Cent Eur J Public Health 2015, 23(4):286-291 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a4056

Validity of Asthma Control Test in Assessing Asthma Control in Czech Outpatient Setting

Elena Gurková1, Patrice Popelková2
1 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Care, University of Presov, Presov, Slovak Republic
2 Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic

Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the reliability and validity of the agreement between the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) in classifying asthma control in the Czech Republic.

Methods: A sample of 316 people with asthma was recruited from the Clinic of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases of the University Hospital in Ostrava between November 2011 and July 2012. Two questionnaires were used in this study, the Asthma Control Test and Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (Mini-AQLQ). Regardless of the questionnaire results the asthma specialist assessed the asthma control status of enlisted patients according to the criteria described in the GINA 2006 guidelines.

Results: The internal consistency of the five-item ACT was good. The ACT score of ≥20 predicted GINA-defined controlled asthma in 29% of cases with a sensitivity of 65% and specificity of 89%. The kappa level of agreement between the ACT classification and GINA classification of asthma control was 0.29, suggesting fair agreement. The ACT score showed the strongest correlation with the specialists' rating, followed by the FEV1 percent predicted. Overall, in line with previous studies we confirmed significant relationship between the ACT scores and FEV1 and health related quality of life.

Conclusions: ACT is a reliable and simple tool that might be a significant asset in the management of outpatients with asthma in the Czech Republic. The ACT score correlates well with lung function parameters and health related quality of life. It appears to be a good tool to predict GINA-defined 'not-controlled asthma'.

Keywords: asthma control, asthma control test, GINA guidelines, Czech Republic

Received: June 19, 2014; Revised: November 2, 2015; Accepted: November 2, 2015; Published: December 30, 2015  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Gurková E, Popelková P. Validity of Asthma Control Test in Assessing Asthma Control in Czech Outpatient Setting. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2015;23(4):286-291. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a4056. PubMed PMID: 26841140.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. To T, Stanojevic S, Moores G, Gershon AS, Bateman ED, Cruz AA, et al. Global asthma prevalence in adults: findings from the cross-sectional world health survey. BMC Public Health. 2012 Mar 19;12:204. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    2. Masoli M, Fabian D, Holt S, Beasley R. Global Burden of Asthma: developed for the global initiative for asthma [Internet]. Wellington: Medical Research Institute of New Zealand; 2004 [cited 2013 Jun 27]. Available from: http://www.ginasthma.org/documents/8.
    3. Haughney J, Price D, Kaplan A, Chrystyn H, Horne R, May N, et al. Achieving asthma control in practice: understanding the reasons for poor control. Respir Med. 2008 Dec;102(12):1681-93. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    4. Global strategy for asthma management and prevention. Updated 2012 [Internet]. Global initiative for asthma (GINA); 2012 [cited 2013 Jun 27]. Available from: http://ginasthma.org.
    5. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. National Asthma Education Program. Expert Panel on the Management of Asthma. Expert Panel Report 3: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management ofAsthma: Full Report 2007 [Internet]. Washington, D.C.: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2007 [cited 2013 Jun 28]. Available from: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/asthma/asthgdln.htm.
    6. Global strategy for asthma management and prevention. Updated 2006 [Internet]. Global initiative for asthma (GINA); 2007 [cited 2013 Jul 12]. Available from: http://ginasthma.org.
    7. Mendoza MM, Ong-Dela Cruz B, Guzman-Banzon AV, Ayuyao FG, De Guia TS. Comparative assessment of asthma control test (ACT) and GINA classification including FEV1 in predicting asthma severity. Phil Heart Center J. 2007;13(2):149-154.
    8. Gandhi PK, Kenzik KM, Thompson LA, DeWalt DA, Revicki DA, Shenkman EA, et al. Exploring factors influencing asthma control and asthma-specific health-related quality of life among children. Respir Res. 2013 Feb 23;14:26. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    9. Chen H, Gould MK, Blanc PD, Miller DP, Kamath TV, Lee JH, et al; TENOR Study Group. Asthma control, severity, and quality of life: quantifying the effect of uncontrolled disease. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2007 Aug;120(2):396-402. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    10. Horne R, Price D, Cleland J, Costa R, Covey D, Gruffydd-Jones K, et al. Can asthma control be improved by understanding the patient's perspective? BMC Pulm Med. 2007 May 22;7:8. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    11. Rabe KF, Vermeire PA, Soriano JB, Maier WC. Clinical management of asthma in 1999: theAsthma Insights and Reality in Europe (AIRE) study. Eur Respir J. 2000 Nov;16(5):802-7. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    12. FitzGerald JM, Boulet LP, McIvor RA, Zimmerman S, Chapman KR. Asthma control in Canada remains suboptimal: the Reality of Asthma Control (TRAC) study. Can Respir J. 2006 Jul-Aug;13(5):253-9. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    13. Koolen BB, Pijnenburg MW, Brackel HJ, Landstra AM, van den Berg NJ, Merkus PJ, et al. Comparing Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) criteria with the Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT) and Asthma Control Test (ACT). Eur Respir J. 2011 Sep;38(3):561-6. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    14. Juniper EF, O'Byrne PM, Guyatt GH, Ferrie PJ, King DR. Development and validation of a questionnaire to measure asthma control. Eur Respir J. 1999 Oct;14(4):902-7. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    15. Nathan RA, Sorkness CA, Kosinski M, Schatz M, Li JT, Marcus P, et al. Development of the asthma control test: a survey for assessing asthma control. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2004 Jan;113(1):59-65. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    16. Boulet LP, Boulet V, Milot J. How should we quantify asthma control? A proposal. Chest. 2002 Dec;122(6):2217-23. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    17. Vollmer WM, Markson LE, O'Connor E, Sanocki LL, Fitterman L, Berger M, et al. Association of asthma control with health care utilization and Quality of Life.Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1999 Nov;160(5 Pt 1):164752. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    18. Thomas M, Kay S, Pike J, WilliamsA, Rosenzweig JR, Hillyer EV, et al. TheAsthma Control Test (ACT) as a predictor of GINAguideline-defined asthma control: analysis of a multinational cross-sectional survey. Prim Care Respir J. 2009 Mar;18(1):41-9. Go to original source...
    19. Nguyen VN, Chavannes N, Le LT, Price D. The Asthma Control Test (ACT) as an alternative tool to Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guideline criteria for assessing asthma control in Vietnamese outpatients. Prim Care Respir J. 2012 Mar;21(1):85-9. Go to original source...
    20. Juniper EF, Guyatt GH, Cox FM, Ferrie PJ, King DR. Development and validation of the Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire. Eur Respir J. 1999 Jul;14(1):32-8. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    21. Schatz M, Mosen DM, Kosinski M, Vollmer WM, Magid DJ, O'Connor E, et al. Validity of the Asthma Control Test completed at home. Am J Manag Care. 2007 Dec;13(12):661-7.
    22. Correia de Sousa J, Pina A, Cruz AM, Quelhas A, Almada-Lobo F, Cabrita J, et al. Asthma control, quality of life, and the role of patient enablement: a cross-sectional observational study. Prim Care Respir J. 2013 Jun;22(2):181-7. Go to original source...
    23. Kwon HS, Lee SH,Yang MS, Lee SM, Kim SH, Kim DI, et al. Correlation between the Korean version of Asthma Control Test and health-related quality of life in adult asthmatics. J Korean Med Sci. 2008Aug;23(4):6217. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    24. Zhou X, Ding FM, Lin JT, Yin KS. Validity of asthma control test for asthma control assessment in Chinese primary care settings. Chest. 2009 Apr;135(4):904-10. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...

    Return to the content