Validation of a single survey that can be used for case identification and assessment of asthma control: the Breathmobile Program.

Background: Underdiagnosis of asthma and underrecognition of disease severity in lower socioeconomic populations continue to be significant health care concerns despite national efforts to better educate health care providers.

Objective: To validate a 1-page survey as a point-in-time tool identifying uncontrolled vs controlled asthma and moderate-to-severe disease activity in an urban, lower-socioeconomic pediatric population.

Methods: A previously validated survey (the Breathmobile Case Identification Survey) was evaluated as a point-in-time tool for identifying children with poorly controlled disease. Clinical validation was achieved in children (n = 1,826) presenting to a school-based asthma program for either an initial (n = 666) or a follow-up (n = 1,170) visit. Responses were compared with a comprehensive evaluation by a physician specialist as the gold standard. Response patterns were used to construct multimodel tiered scoring algorithms for baseline and follow-up visits that identify children with uncontrolled asthma, and children are likely to have moderate-to-severe disease activity at that time.

Results: Surveys scored using the developed algorithms identified children with uncontrolled asthma (sensitivity: baseline, 77.0%; follow-up, 71.6%; specificity: baseline, 72.7%; follow-up, 71.5%) and detected moderate-to-severe disease activity (sensitivity: baseline, 69.2%; follow-up, 77.4%; specificity: baseline, 70.2%; follow-up, 70.3%).

Conclusions: The Breathmobile Case Identification Survey can be used in lower-socioeconomic, urban populations as a point-in-time tool for identifying children with uncontrolled vs controlled asthma and moderate-to-severe disease activity.