Abstract
Objective
To compare asthma control assessment using the Asthma APGAR system, a tool developed
by primary care clinicians, in a multicenter primary care sample with the Asthma Control
Test (ACT™)/Childhood Asthma Control Test (CACT™), a tool developed by asthma specialists.
Patients and Methods
This is a substudy of a multicenter, randomized, controlled pragmatic trial that tests
the effectiveness of the Asthma APGAR system in primary care practices. As part of
the study, enrolled patients completed both the ACT™/CACT™ and the Asthma APGAR system
between March 1, 2011, and December 31, 2011. Kappa and McNemar statistics were used
to compare the results of questionnaires.
Results
Of the 468 patients in our sample, 306 (65%) were classified as not controlled by
the ACT™/CACT™ or the Asthma APGAR system. The overall agreement was 84.4%, with a
kappa value of .68 (substantial agreement) and a McNemar test P value of .35 (suggesting no significant difference in the direction of disagreement).
Of those with poor control as defined by the Asthma APGAR system, 23.8% (73) had no
controller medications and 76.5% (234) were seldom or sometimes able to avoid identified
triggers for their asthma. Of those who stated that they had been prescribed controller
medications, 116 of 332 (35%) stated that they did not use the controller medication
on a daily basis.
Conclusion
The Asthma APGAR system and the ACT™/CACT™ similarly assess asthma control in a multicenter
primary care–based sample. The Asthma APGAR system identified an “actionable item”
in more than 75% (234) of the individuals with poor asthma control, thus linking an
assessment of poor asthma control with a management strategy.
Abbreviations and Acronyms:
ACT™ (Asthma Control Test), ACQ (Asthma Control Questionnaire), AQLQ (Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire), CACT™ (Childhood Asthma Control Test), GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma), IRB (institutional review board), PAQLQ (Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 05, 2014
Footnotes
Grant Support: This work was supported by grant R01-HS0118431 (B.P.Y.) from the Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
