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Correlations between pulmonary function and childhood asthma control test results in 5-11-year-old children with
Ming-Sheng Lee1, Jun-Kai Kao2, Cheng-Han Lee3
1Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
Insights
Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT) scores showed poor correlation with pulmonary function test results in children aged 5-11 years. These findings suggest C-ACT may not reliably predict lung function in pediatric asthma patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Asthma Management
- Clinical Assessment Tools
Background:
- Asthma control is crucial for children's health.
- Assessing asthma control often involves patient-reported outcomes and objective lung function tests.
- The Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT) is a tool used to evaluate asthma control in young patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the correlation between Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT) scores and pulmonary function test (PFT) results in children aged 5-11 years with asthma.
- To determine if C-ACT scores can predict PFT outcomes in this pediatric population.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 172 children (5-11 years) with asthma completed C-ACT questionnaires.
- Pulmonary function testing was performed on all participants.
- Statistical analyses examined correlations between C-ACT scores and various PFT parameters (FEV1, FVC, FEF25, FEF50, FEF75, MMEF, PEFR).
- Patients were grouped by C-ACT scores (≤19 vs. >19) to compare PFT results.
Main Results:
- Weak correlations were observed between C-ACT scores and PFT results (e.g., FEV1: 0.061, MMEF: 0.074).
- No significant correlations were found between C-ACT scores and FEV1, FVC, FEF25, FEF50, FEF75, MMEF, or PEFR.
- The proportion of children in the C-ACT ≤19 and >19 groups did not significantly differ in terms of PFT performance.
Conclusions:
- C-ACT scores demonstrated poor correlation with objective pulmonary function test results in children aged 5-11 years with asthma.
- The C-ACT may not be a reliable predictor of lung function in this age group.
- Further research may be needed to validate asthma control assessment tools in pediatric populations.
Objectives:
We examined correlations between the two asthma assessment tools, pulmonary function tests, and Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT) scores, in 5-11-year-old children with asthma to determine if the C-ACT scores could predict pulmonary function test results.
Materials And Methods:
A total of 172 children with asthma aged 5-11 years completed C-ACT questionnaires and underwent pulmonary function testing. Correlations between these test results were examined. Patients were also placed into two groups, C-ACT scores ≤19 and >19, to determine if patients with scores >19 had better pulmonary function test results.
Results:
Weak correlations were found between pulmonary function test results and childhood asthma control test scores in 5-11-year-old children with asthma, with or without the use of an asthma controller. These correlations included: 0.061 for FEV1 [confidence interval (CI): -0.022-0.049] and 0.074 for MMEF (CI: -0.013-0.037). The proportions of children with C-ACT test scores ≤19 group and those with scores >19 group were not significantly different.
Conclusion:
Correlations between C-ACT scores and pulmonary function test results were poor for children aged 5-11 years with asthma. FEV1, FVC, FEF25, FEF50, FEF75, MMEF, and PEFR were not significantly correlated with C-ACT scores.
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