Use of a paper disposable cup as a spacer is effective for the first-aid management of asthma

Objective:There are many settings in which a spacer device is not available for the administration of bronchodilator Therefore, we tested whether a paper disposable cup is as effective as a commercially produced spacer to administer bronchodilator Methodology: Randomised controlled trial. 50 subjects aged 16-50 years who had wheeze and a greater than 10% decrease in FEV1 after histamine inhalation test (HIT). Subjects were randomised to either the 150 ml paper disposable cup group (CUP) or the commercially produced spacer group (SPACER), Twenty minutes after 400mug salbutamol was administered FEV1 was measured. The recovery index measured post-bronchodilator FEV1 as a percentage of baseline FEV1. Also, analysis of covariance tested whether recovery of FEV1 was related to the magnitude of the fall following the HIT Results: There were no statistically significant differences between CUP and SPACER groups in any characteristics. There was no difference for the recovery index (t(48) = 1.14, P = 0.26). Regression analyses showed that the relation between the magnitude of the fall in FEV1 during the HIT and the percent recovery was not different between the CUP and SPACER groups (t=- 1.2, P