Background: Asthma is still a major health problem in global population, including Indonesia. Antiasthma drugs available in various dosage forms, including inhaler. However, several problems related to inhalation route were found due to its unique device form and spesific use technique. One of the major problems related to inhalation route is inappropriate use technique of inhaler device, which could lead to treatment failure. Therapy outcome can be measured through Asthma Control Test (ACT). Objectives: This study was aimed to evaluate correlation between metered dose inhaler (MDI) use technique and asthma control level in patients. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in May - June 2021. Thirty patients who met inclusion criteria were enrolled in this study. Patients’ MDI use technique and asthma control level were evaluated using a valid and standardized questionnaire. Statistics analysis was performed to determine the correlation between MDI use technique and asthma control level. Results: This study showed that most of asthmatic patients were women in older age, with mild asthma severity for more than 10 years. The most prevalent medication used was Fenoterol HBr, followed by salbutamol, and salmeterol/fluticasone combination. Inappropriate MDI use was found in 70,0% patients, with major problem found in patients’ breathing technique before and during MDI use. Asthma control test was performed and showed that 90,0% of asthmatic patients involved in this study have an uncontrolled asthma. Statistical analysis using Pearson product-moment correlation test showed a positive correlation between proper use of MDI and asthma control level (r=0.425, p<0.05). Conclusions: Patient who properly use MDI may have a higher score in asthma control test, thus have a better control of asthma. This study emphasized pharmacist role as patient educator in ensuring appropriate inhaler use in order to achieve therapeutic goals.

Self-medication practice is currently increasing in global population. Apart from the benefits, it is undeniable that self-medication can also have several negative impacts. The outcome of self-medication is affected by pharmacist’s clinical ability to provide self-medication services to the patient. This study was aimed to assess the quality of self-medication services in Indonesia using mystery customer approach. A pilot project had been conducted in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Mystery customers act as patients who come to the pharmacy seeking self-medication medications for cough/common cold, diarrhea/constipation, pain/fever, and gastritis cases. A total 232 pharmacies were involved in this study and selected through stratified random sampling. The quality of self-medication services was measured by four subdomains: patient assessment, the accuracy of drug selection, the drug information provided to mystery customer, and lifestyle modification counselling. Result showed that patient assessment regarding signs and symptoms only performed by 42,82% pharmacies in Bandung, 14,44% assessed pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapy prior to visit, and only 10,56% assessed patients’ specific medical condition. Although the percentage of patient assessment performed by pharmacies in Bandung were low, interestingly the accuracy of drug selection is relatively high (85,34%). The most prevalent information provided to patient was instruction to consume the medication (59,09%), meanwhile the least delivered information was about side effect (5,17%). Information about lifestyle modification only delivered by 10,34% pharmacies. The quality of self-medication services in Bandung varies depending on the type of pharmacy and service provider. State-owned pharmacy has a higher overall score of self-medication service than private retail pharmacy and private standalone pharmacy (p<0,05). Based on the service provider, pharmacist have a higher score of self-medication service compared to pharmacy technicians and other personnel in pharmacies (p<0,05). This study emphasizes the importance of the pharmacist’s role in self-medication services to ensure rational and safe treatment for patients.