Table 2

The 29 pros participants gave for electronically monitoring inhaler use, with the number of times each point was raised

Pros	Sum
1. An accurate record of adherence for clinicians/nurses/general practitioners to use in auditing and review	24
2. Reminding the patient to use their inhaler	17
3. For identifying patterns of inhaler use, for example, days, times, school, holidays, etc	12
4. Aiding discussions between the clinician and patient, for example, visual evidence	11
5. Improve compliance	8
6. Reducing costs through less wasted medication and less time in hospital	8
7. Relating an accurate record of a patient’s inhaler use to their health outcomes and asthma control	7
8. Data for research	6
9. Patient can see their inhaler use from home and know if they are underusing/overusing	6
10. Patient has proof of their adherence to share with their clinician—increasing trust	6
11. Increase patient involvement and motivation for treating their condition	5
12. More informed decision-making for clinicians	5
13. Better asthma control and improved quality of life	4
14. Adding the ability to alert when the inhaler is about to run out would be beneficial	3
15. Adding the ability to monitor inhaler technique would be beneficial	3
16. Can be used to identify inhaler types that are less likely to be used—to ultimately find the most widely accepted and used inhaler types	3
17. Increasing patient independence, accountability and self-management for their asthma	3
18. Parents can check on their child's inhaler use	3
19. The patient's awareness of monitoring by their clinician may improve their compliance	3
20. ‘Cool’ technology may appeal to patients	2
21. Could reduce exacerbations	2
22. GPS would be beneficial in identifying triggers for a patient’s asthma, for example, pollen, pollution	2
23. Could be used with other monitoring techniques, for example, peak flow	1
24. Helpful for identifying dose dumping	1
25. Increasing patient confidence in their care	1
26. Long term—could be used to develop bio feedback	1
27. Promote competition	1
28. Useful data for emergency situations	1
29. Useful to monitor adherence of different groups of patients on different treatments	1