NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Roughly a third of people who look after kids with asthma do not use a "rescue" albuterol inhaler properly when their child has an asthma flare-up, according to a report in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.

Dr. Jane M. Garbutt, from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, and colleagues examined albuterol inhaler use in the home setting by surveying 114 caregivers of low-income, urban children.

Sixty-eight percent of caregivers used albuterol appropriately for their child's asthma flare-up, the researchers found. The remaining 32 percent of caregivers either undertreated or overtreated the children.

If the child had an ER visit or hospitalization for asthma in the past year, the likelihood of appropriate use rose.

By contrast, having an asthma action plan in place, or having a recent visit to a primary care doctor regarding asthma maintenance care, had no bearing on appropriate use.

"Detailed evaluation of how worsening symptoms are recognized and how albuterol is used at home may provide insight into how to better educate and support parents in the effective home management of worsening symptoms," the investigators conclude.

However, they recognize that asthma education and support is time consuming and difficult to accomplish during a visit to a doctor's office. "Perhaps," they suggest, "it is time to address barriers to implementing effective alternative strategies to provide this needed education and support."

SOURCE: Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, June 2009.