I T S Yu1, T W Wong, W Li. 1. Department of Community & Family Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, School of Public Health, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China. iyu@cuhk.edu.hk
Abstract
AIMS: To study how respiratory symptoms reported by children, with or without spirometry, could help to discriminate those with asthma from those without. METHODS: Respiratory symptoms (frequent cough, frequent phlegm, and wheezing) reported by 1646 schoolchildren (aged 8-12 years) in a respiratory questionnaire and the FEV1:FVC ratio measured with spirometry (at three different cut-off values of 0.70, 0.75, and 0.80) were compared against the criterion standard of a physician diagnosis of asthma reported by the parents. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of asthma was 6%; more boys had asthma. Wheezing had the best discriminating ability among the three symptoms and a cut-off point at 75% was best for the FEV1:FVC ratio. Combining wheezing with an FEV1:FVC ratio <75% gave the highest discriminating ability of 83%. If the tests were applied to hypothetical populations with higher prevalence ratios of asthma, the added value of the FEV1:FVC ratio became less apparent. CONCLUSION: Respiratory symptoms, especially wheezing, reported by children had good discriminating ability for asthma and could be adopted for opportunistic screening in the primary care settings.
AIMS: To study how respiratory symptoms reported by children, with or without spirometry, could help to discriminate those with asthma from those without. METHODS: Respiratory symptoms (frequent cough, frequent phlegm, and wheezing) reported by 1646 schoolchildren (aged 8-12 years) in a respiratory questionnaire and the FEV1:FVC ratio measured with spirometry (at three different cut-off values of 0.70, 0.75, and 0.80) were compared against the criterion standard of a physician diagnosis of asthma reported by the parents. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of asthma was 6%; more boys had asthma. Wheezing had the best discriminating ability among the three symptoms and a cut-off point at 75% was best for the FEV1:FVC ratio. Combining wheezing with an FEV1:FVC ratio <75% gave the highest discriminating ability of 83%. If the tests were applied to hypothetical populations with higher prevalence ratios of asthma, the added value of the FEV1:FVC ratio became less apparent. CONCLUSION: Respiratory symptoms, especially wheezing, reported by children had good discriminating ability for asthma and could be adopted for opportunistic screening in the primary care settings.
Authors: M A Jenkins; J R Clarke; J B Carlin; C F Robertson; J L Hopper; M F Dalton; D P Holst; K Choi; G G Giles Journal: Int J Epidemiol Date: 1996-06 Impact factor: 7.196
Authors: D Sistek; J M Tschopp; C Schindler; M Brutsche; U Ackermann-Liebrich; A P Perruchoud; P Leuenberger Journal: Eur Respir J Date: 2001-02 Impact factor: 16.671