Background: Aim: Reliability:
-Operant conditioning = associative To investigate if the ‘Funhaler’ can +High in internal reliability as all parents of the children used the same
learning through consequence. positively reinforce and improve questionnaire on adherence with breath-a-take and Funhaler, which increases
-Poor adherence to prescribed adherence to asthma medication. control.
medication remains a problem for +High in reliability as all children had 2 weeks to use the Funhaler.
paediatrics. Method: +High in external reliability as it can be easily replicated outside the study, as it
-Adherence = 30%-70% -Field experiment has test-retest as same questionnaires were used both times.
-Repeated measure design -Low internal reliability as it was a field experiment so lacks control as the child
Sample: -IV’s = Breath-a-take and Funhaler took part in using the Funhaler as the child was in their home (natural
32 children with asthma age range from -DV = Adherence to asthma environment).
1.5-6 from Australia. medication prescribed.
Parents provided informed consent as
ppts are under the age of 16. Also
Validity:
completed questionnaires and took part
+High in ecological validity as it was a field experiment and took part in the
in phone calls.
children’s homes.
Procedure: -Low in internal validity as the questionnaire may have caused social desirability
-First a comparison was made between the 2 devices and no significant as parents may have lied and gave answer the experimenter wanted to hear to
differences were observed showing it does not compromise drug delivery. benefit results of the Funhaler.
-Answered questionnaires on breath-a-take. -Low in population validity as it was a relatively small sample and there
Chaney et al
-Given Funhaler for 2 weeks. w there more boys than girls, creating a gender bias, so we can’t generalise
-Were called halfway though to check for attrition affect. results of if the Funhaler improves adherence to asthma medication to the entire
-Then given another questionnaire checking for ease of use, compliance of target population.
children and parents and treatment attitudes.
Findings: Conclusions: Ethics:
-Funhaler was associated with improved -Improved adherence suggests that +Informed consent was obtained from parents as ppts were children so
child and parent compliance. the Funhaler may be useful for the needed consent from the parents. However, children may not want their
management of young asthmatics. results to be used in the future.
-81% using Funhaler were found to have
been medicated the previous day -Funhaler could have improved -May have caused psychological harm as children may feel embarrassed by
compared to 59% with the breath-a-take. measures of clinical outcome. having their personal life shared and recorded.
-30% more took 4 or more cycles. -Funhaler may improve the health of +Confidentiality was obtained.
children.
-Use of Funhaler was associated with
fewer problem than when using the -More research is recommended in
existing device. the long-term efficiency of this
treatment.
-Operant conditioning = associative To investigate if the ‘Funhaler’ can +High in internal reliability as all parents of the children used the same
learning through consequence. positively reinforce and improve questionnaire on adherence with breath-a-take and Funhaler, which increases
-Poor adherence to prescribed adherence to asthma medication. control.
medication remains a problem for +High in reliability as all children had 2 weeks to use the Funhaler.
paediatrics. Method: +High in external reliability as it can be easily replicated outside the study, as it
-Adherence = 30%-70% -Field experiment has test-retest as same questionnaires were used both times.
-Repeated measure design -Low internal reliability as it was a field experiment so lacks control as the child
Sample: -IV’s = Breath-a-take and Funhaler took part in using the Funhaler as the child was in their home (natural
32 children with asthma age range from -DV = Adherence to asthma environment).
1.5-6 from Australia. medication prescribed.
Parents provided informed consent as
ppts are under the age of 16. Also
Validity:
completed questionnaires and took part
+High in ecological validity as it was a field experiment and took part in the
in phone calls.
children’s homes.
Procedure: -Low in internal validity as the questionnaire may have caused social desirability
-First a comparison was made between the 2 devices and no significant as parents may have lied and gave answer the experimenter wanted to hear to
differences were observed showing it does not compromise drug delivery. benefit results of the Funhaler.
-Answered questionnaires on breath-a-take. -Low in population validity as it was a relatively small sample and there
Chaney et al
-Given Funhaler for 2 weeks. w there more boys than girls, creating a gender bias, so we can’t generalise
-Were called halfway though to check for attrition affect. results of if the Funhaler improves adherence to asthma medication to the entire
-Then given another questionnaire checking for ease of use, compliance of target population.
children and parents and treatment attitudes.
Findings: Conclusions: Ethics:
-Funhaler was associated with improved -Improved adherence suggests that +Informed consent was obtained from parents as ppts were children so
child and parent compliance. the Funhaler may be useful for the needed consent from the parents. However, children may not want their
management of young asthmatics. results to be used in the future.
-81% using Funhaler were found to have
been medicated the previous day -Funhaler could have improved -May have caused psychological harm as children may feel embarrassed by
compared to 59% with the breath-a-take. measures of clinical outcome. having their personal life shared and recorded.
-30% more took 4 or more cycles. -Funhaler may improve the health of +Confidentiality was obtained.
children.
-Use of Funhaler was associated with
fewer problem than when using the -More research is recommended in
existing device. the long-term efficiency of this
treatment.
