Quantifying asthma symptoms in adults: the Lara Asthma Symptom Scale.
J Allergy Clin Immunol
; 120(6): 1368-72, 2007 Dec.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17981316
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Accurate assessment of asthma symptoms is critical in research and clinical settings. A multidimensional asthma control questionnaire could provide more accurate information about asthma symptoms than global assessments, which often overestimate asthma control.OBJECTIVE:
We sought to evaluate the efficacy of the Lara Asthma Symptom Scale (LASS) in adults with persistent asthma.METHODS:
Participants were 18 to 64 years of age with persistent asthma. Data were collected at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. We described the construct and predictive validity of the LASS by comparing it with measures of pulmonary function (FEV(1)), asthma-specific quality of life (Juniper's Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire [AQLQ]), and health care use (emergency department [ED] visits and hospitalizations).RESULTS:
Three hundred eighty-three participants provided baseline data. The LASS had high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach alpha = .84). LASS scores correlated significantly with baseline measures of FEV(1) (-0.20, P = .0002), AQLQ (-0.68, P < .0001), ED visits (0.17, P = .002), and hospitalizations (0.15, P = .008). Baseline LASS scores were associated significantly with ED visits (P = .03) and hospitalizations (P = .04) over the subsequent 12 months. Change in LASS scores over time correlated significantly with changes in FEV(1) (-0.22, P = .001) and AQLQ (-0.70, P < .001).CONCLUSIONS:
The LASS demonstrated good internal consistency, excellent validity based on concurrent criterion validity and longitudinal predictive validity, and good discriminatory properties in a heterogeneous sample of adults with persistent asthma. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS This study validates a simple multidimensional asthma questionnaire as a clinical tool in the assessment of asthma control in adults.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Asthma
/
Severity of Illness Index
/
Surveys and Questionnaires
Type of study:
Clinical_trials
/
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
J Allergy Clin Immunol
Year:
2007
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States