Study design (if review, criteria of inclusion for studies)
RCT
Participants
children with CF on long-term aerosol therapy
Interventions
children were randomly allocated to either TIM (target inhalation mode), which optimises patient inhalations through a direct feedback mechanism, or to continue TBM
Outcome measures
The primary outcome was nebuliser treatment times with secondary outcomes being adherence and patient preference
Main results
The ten children allocated TIM reduced their mean (SD) treatment times from 6.9(2.9) to 3.7(2.3) minutes (p<0.001). In contrast, treatment times were unchanged in the ten children allocated TBM. Mean adherence was maintained in the TIM group but declined in patients allocated TBM by >5%. All children preferred TIM to TBM.
Authors' conclusions
TIM reduces nebuliser treatment times and may positively impact on adherence, although longer duration studies are required to examine this.