[Asthma screening with a standardized running test]

Exercise induced asthma is a common feature of asthma in childhood. We performed a standardized free running test in 1461 primary schoolchildren in first grade (mean age: 7.3 years). A decrease of peak expiratory flow of at least 15% after a 6 minutes exercise period was considered a positive response. For a lifetime prevalence of a physician's diagnosis of asthma the sensitivity of the test was 35.4% and the specificity 94.3%. A positive response was associated with atopy (defined as a positive skin prick test) and with the clinical severity of asthma.