Development and Validation of the New Asthma Numeracy Test

Area of Science:

• Respiratory Medicine
• Health Literacy
• Patient Education

Background:

• Numeracy skills are crucial for managing chronic conditions like asthma.
• Limited assessment tools exist to evaluate asthma patients' numeracy.
• The Asthma Numeracy Test (ANT) was developed to address this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability and validity of the newly developed Asthma Numeracy Test (ANT).
• To translate and validate the ANT in Arabic for wider accessibility.
• To assess the correlation between numeracy skills and other health-related factors in asthma patients.

Main Methods:

• The ANT, comprising 10 questions on arithmetic, percentages, estimation, and problem-solving, was administered to 150 adult asthma patients in the UAE.
• The test underwent forward and back-translation for Arabic and English versions.
• Convergent validity was assessed by correlating ANT scores with the Asthma Knowledge Test (AKT), inhaled medication knowledge, and inhaler technique.

Main Results:

• The average ANT score was 6.47 ± 2.09, with 25% scoring 4.0 or below.
• Positive correlations were found between ANT scores and AKT (r=0.22) and inhaled medication knowledge (r=0.16).
• ANT scores showed positive association with educational attainment and negative association with emergency room visits, but no correlation with inhaler technique.

Conclusions:

• The Asthma Numeracy Test (ANT) is a valid and reliable tool for assessing numeracy in asthma patients.
• The ANT can identify patients needing numeracy support, enabling targeted interventions.
• The availability of the ANT in English and Arabic facilitates its use in diverse populations to improve asthma care outcomes.