[Assessment of patient satisfaction and preferences with inhalers in asthma with the FSI-10 Questionnaire].

Background And Objective: Lack of adherence to inhaled corticosteroid therapy is common in patients with asthma, and it has been suggested that allowing patients to choose their own inhalers would resolve this problem. The FSI-10 (Feeling of Satisfaction with Inhaler) is a self-completed questionnaire to assess patient opinions regarding ease or difficulty of use, portability, and usability of devices for delivery of inhaled corticosteroids. The aim of this study was to define the measurement properties of the FSI-10 questionnaire and to use this inventory to compare satisfaction and preferences of patients with asthma regarding 3 different devices for delivery of inhaled corticosteroids: Turbuhaler, Accuhaler, and Novolizer.

[The internal consistency and content validity of the Spanish version of the Asthma Autonomy Questionnaire].

The Asthma Autonomy Questionnaire (AAQ) was designed to evaluate asthmatics' desire to learn about their disease and to make decisions. The AAQ consists of 26 items distributed in two scales: Preferences in the Search for Information (PSI, 8 items) and Preferences in Decision Making (PDM, 6 general items and 12 related to 3 scenarios depicting asthma in stable phase, during mild exacerbation and during severe exacerbation). The aim of this study was to analyze the internal consistency (Cronbach's-coefficient) and content validity (factorial analysis of principal components) of the AAQ.

Atopy and pulmonary function abnormalities in children with a history of acute bronchiolitis.

To assess the relationship between acute viral bronchiolitis and subsequent development of asthma, we studied retrospectively 97 index children, aged between 9 and 14 years, and 52 controls. The bronchiolitis group showed significantly lower values for mean expiratory flow at 50% of vital capacity (MEF50) higher incidence of atopy, and were more sensitive to methacholine than were controls, even if they had not shown recurrent wheezing episodes. It is suggested that an increased incidence of atopy, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and reduced expiratory flows may be detectable in children with a history of acute bronchiolitis, regardless of the fact that they did not develop subsequent clinical symptoms suggestive of bronchial asthma.