The study aimed to assess the preferences of expert physicians about the requirements for inhalation devices for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to identify the most relevant advantages and disadvantages to their prescription. In a two-round Delphi survey, 96 Spanish COPD-expert pulmonologists completed an internet-based questionnaire to evaluate the degree of importance of the characteristics of the inhaler devices in their choice for COPD. The requirements needed for use in COPD were that the device permits a high pulmonary deposit of the drug, allowed its dispensation at low inspiratory flows, did not require hand-mouth coordination, generated an exact and reproducible dose, its operation was easy to teach, provided the perception of a correct inhalation, had an intuitive use mechanism and security mechanisms to prevent overdosing and generates a reduced oropharyngeal deposit (very good consensus). Modulite®, Respimat® and NEXThaler® were associated with high pulmonary deposit, and Respimat® showed correct dispensation at low inspiratory flows. All dry-powder inhaler devices were associated with the advantage of not requiring coordination, and Respimat® was the only device considered as difficult to teach by more than 50% of the experts. Breezhaler® and Genuair® were positively associated with patients' awareness of correct inhalation, whereas Spiromax® stood out for its intuitive use mechanism. In conclusion, our study contributes to defining the inhaler device properties required for their use in patients with COPD, and to identify the devices that, in the opinion of experts, best meet each requirement.
Keywords: COPD; DPI; MDI; inhaled therapy; inhaler devices; preferences.