Table 2 Key attributes of the ELLIPTA DPI: selected quotations from participants with asthma (N = 33) and COPD (N = 42)
Relevant emergent themes (no. of COPD/asthma patients reporting) | Relevant quotations to illustrate theme, COPD patients | Relevant quotations to illustrate theme, asthma patients |
|---|---|---|
Ease of use | ||
Ease and simplicity (16/17) | “Life made less complicated” | “It’s straight-forward in its use” |
“Very easy” | “You really don’t have to think about it, it’s that easy” | |
“Extremely easy to use” | “It a no brainer in how to use” | |
Simple/Intuitive (9/5) | “It’s simple and takes the frustration out of it” | “It has a very simple design” |
“It’s easy to learn to use” | “It is really well thought out” | |
“Really don’t need instructions to use the device, it’s very intuitive.” | ||
“You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to use the device, it’s really very simple” | ||
Simple steps (8/3) | “Just flip open the cover and inhale” | “Open and inhale” |
“One hand, one shot, no thought.” | “Pull back the lever and inhale” | |
Issues with Lever Action (2/5) | “Opening is a little difficult, the cover feels tight when I go to slide” | “Lever drags when I pinch it to slide it open” |
“Sometimes the lever would move back a little when I open it” | ||
Amount of time to use device | ||
Quick/Just seconds (27/21) | “Takes no time at all to use” | “Less time than any other device” |
“I can’t imagine it being any faster to use” | ||
“3 to 4 seconds” | ||
“Only 3 seconds to use, it’s so easy” | “About the same amount of time as my current pump” | |
“No one will notice I’m using it, it’s so quick. I’m always on the go and this is a good thing” | ||
“It’s incredibly quick and fast” | ||
Number of steps (5/6) | “Open, inhale and close” | “Flip, inhale and rinse…you’re done” |
“Just a flip and you breathe it in” | “Just cock it, breathe and go” | |
Hand feel of the device | ||
Fits hand (17/13) | “I have a small hand and it fits it well” | “Fits in my hand nicely” |
“It’s the right size and shape to fit my hand” | “It has a substantial feel that I like” | |
Never slipped (12/12) | “Never slipped from my hand” | “It never slipped so I never dropped it” |
“I don’t recall ever dropping it” | ||
“It doesn’t slip around when you grab it” | ||
“It never slipped from my hand always felt very secure” | ||
Not too large/compact (11/5) | “It’s compact and not bulky” | “It’s not that big, which is great” |
“It’s not too large, which I like” | “It has a compact size that’s good” | |
Comfortable to hold (7/3) | “The feel in my hand is comfortable” | “It’s comfortable in my hand” |
Easy to hold (6/2) | “It’s got a nice curve to it that makes it nice to hold” | “It has a texture that helps me to hold on to it” |
Like grip/design ridges (2/4) | “The ridge marks in the thing help me to hold it” | “It has little grippers that I like, ridges; they really help” |
Ease of opening/closing device | ||
Easy (9/14) | “It’s easy to open with one hand” | “It’s obvious what to open and how and there is not much resistance to push it open and closed” |
“Just slides open and closed with little effort” | ||
“It really takes no strength to slide the cap” | ||
Simple (6/14) | “Just flip it and it’s open, it’s very easy to do” | “Trigger is the cover, it is so easy” |
“It’s just a simple operation, you can even do it with one hand” | “It’s really mistake proof” | |
“It’s simple to just pull open. It closes the same way.” | ||
Difficult to slide cover (4/3) | “Sometimes it may stick a little and I need to push a little harder” | “Takes a little pressure to open, was not real smooth” |
“A little harder to open than Advair” | “The lever action was a little gritty from time to time” | |
No problems (general) (3/3) | “Cover never got stuck, never had a problem” | “No complications, no troubles” |
“There just were no problems” | ||
Grips/ridges/lip (3/3) | “I can slide it over with my thumb. I use the little raised lip to push it over” | “I like the flare ups on the cover, makes it easier to open and close” |
Feel of device when placed to the lips | ||
Fits well/seals well (14/17) | “It’s shaped like my lips so I felt I got a good seal” | “It fits well, there is more of it to fit to my lips” |
“Fit my lips perfectly” | “Easy to make a tight seal to be sure inhaling the medicine, and not air.” | |
“It seals better than others and I feel I get more of the medicine. I feel I’m getting the full dose.” | “Fit nicely to my lips” | |
Comfortable (12/9) | “It felt right” | “It was comfortable, I didn’t have to purse my lips” |
“It felt really good to hold it up to my lips” | “Just very comfortable” | |
“It felt very comfortable” | ||
Placement of lips (3/2) | “I feel it is a little too small or short, I need to get my mouth around it.” | “The mouthpiece is a little shallow, I put my mouth further up” |
Ease of activation | ||
Works even with small breath (14/5) | “Worked even when my breath was shallow” | “I had no problem breathing in the medicine on days I could breathe, it was effortless” |
“It was not hard to draw out the medicine” | ||
“I didn’t feel I needed to suck as hard” | “I think it takes less breath to get the medicine in” | |
“One big inhale and I know I got the medicine” | ||
Easy (4/11) | “Less difficult than an MDI” | “Almost too easy, I called my doctor to make sure I was doing it right” |
“Very easy to inhale” | “It was just real easy to do” | |
Medicine delivery (7/7) | “I could feel the medicine. I could feel the powder going in” | “I could feel the air flowing through so I knew something was happening” |
“I just felt like I got all the medicine” | “Felt like I could feel the medicine and it was easy to direct it to the back of the mouth” | |
Not propelled (0/4) | “I would like it better if it was propelled” | |
“Don’t feel it the same way as a pump. I have no proof it’s working or dispensing.” | ||
Use and value of dose counter | ||
Big/easy to see/read (17/19) | “I can see the red indicator even without my glasses” | “The black and white numbers are very easy to see” |
“I can read the numbers without my glasses” | “I can see them without my glasses” | |
“I don’t need to pull out my magnification to see the numbers” | “The numbers are big and easy to read” | |
“It’s large enough I can see it” | ||
Keeps me on track (12/6) | “Indicates to me when doses are getting low” | “Keeps me on track with my medicine” |
“Makes it easier for me to keep up and not forget” | “Helps me know if I took my medicine each day | |
“It’s easy to read. It tells me when to refill. And, I know if I took my medicine” | “I like to know if I missed a day, and this helps me | |
Red indicator (8/7) | “The red indicator tells me I’m close to being out of medicine” | “The red strip tells me when I’m low” |
“9 or less and it goes to red and tells me I’m getting close to being out of medicine” | “I like that it turns red when getting low, I know to reorder.” | |
“I like the red indicator” | ||
Helpful (6/6) | “It has actual numbers and that’s helpful, no guessing” | “It’s simply helpful” |