Clement Clarke International is highlighting the results of a study done in partnership with Egypt’s Beni-Suef University Research demonstrating that the company’s Clip-Tone audible feedback device can improve MDI technique. The data were presented at the 2020 European Respiratory Society Congress.
The Clip-Tone device attaches to the top of an MDI actuator and sounds a whistle when a patient inhales at the correct rate; the whistle tone continues to sound as long as the patient maintains the correct inhalation rate. In 2019, Clement Clarke launched the Clip-Tone in the UK for use with GSK’s Evohaler MDIs.
The study involved 200 subjects, divided into 4 groups. The first group got verbal instruction on how to properly use the inhaler; the second group got verbal instruction and used an MDI with a silent Clip-Tone device that provided resistance equivalent to the regular Clip-Tone; the third group got verbal instruction plus a whistle Clip-Tone; and the final group got verbal instruction, a whistle Clip-Tone, and use of an associated mobile app.
Researchers recorded 3 efforts by each subject to inhale through a placebo MDI following the verbal instruction. Inter- and intra-subject variation in inhalation time was approximately twice as high for subjects in Groups 1 and 2, who did not receive audible feedback, than inter-and intra-subject variation in Groups 3 and 4, who did have audible feedback.
Clement Clarke Chief Technology Officer Mark Sanders commented, “Getting patients to consistently adopt good inhaler technique has been an enduring challenge for all inhaler development, our study suggests that providing real-time cues and feedback can help encourage consistent behavior through the use of simple, low-cost technology. Everyday use of the Clip-Tone device and smartphone app in association with daily medications could promote improved inhalation technique.”
