Evaluation of Asthma Control in Children Using Childhood- Asthma Control Test (C-ACT) and Asthma Therapy Assessment Questionnaire (ATAQ).

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of Childhood-asthma control test (C-ACT) and the Asthma therapy assessment questionnaire by (ATAQ) checking its consistency with Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) criteria. METHODS: Asthma control of 97 children was assessed using C-ACT, ATAQ and GINA criteria separately, and their results were compared. RESULTS: C-ACT had better performance for evaluating control as per GINA criteria with sensitivity of 48.3%, specificity of 68.9%, and area under the receiver operative curve (ROC) of 0.647. The above parameters for ATAQ were: 93.1%, 17.2% and 0.552, respectively. A cut-off score of 20 for C-ACT is more suitable as it has maximum ROC area (0.667), and higher kappa score (0.315); P= 0.001. CONCLUSION: C-ACT can be validity used to monitor asthma control. However, the cut-off score 20 is more accurate for the Indian population. The performance of ATAQ in evaluating asthma control is not satisfactory.

Vitamin d levels in children with bronchial asthma.

INTRODUCTION: Bronchial Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in childhood. Vitamin-D, required for bone mineralization, is also a potent immune system regulator having a potential role in various allergic diseases. This study was undertaken to determine the difference in serum levels of Vitamin-D in asthmatic children and to determine the association between vitamin-D and asthma in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 88 (44 asthmatic children and 44 healthy controls) children aged between 5 and 13 y. Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin-D levels were determined and compared between the two groups. The association between vitamin-D levels and lung function was studied in the asthmatic children. RESULTS: Serum vitamin-D level was significantly lower in asthmatic children than in control group and in the asthmatic group, vitamin-D levels had a significant positive correlation with FEV1% and FEV1/FVC%. CONCLUSION: Vitamin-D deficiency is highly prevalent in asthmatic children and is associated with airway limitation.