BACKGROUND: Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) has been proposed as a useful tool for assessing the perception of asthma symptoms, a cornerstone in disease management. While airway flow limitation and its reversibility are thought to be a useful marker of disease severity, there are very few studies that evaluated the response to bronchodilation (BD) testing perception by VAS. To investigate whether VAS assessment of breathlessness perception could provide a useful tool to assess the response to BD testing in asthmatic children. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included a total of 150 children (96 males, mean age 11.05 years) with asthma, 50 had bronchial obstruction (i.e. FEV1 <80% of predicted). Perception of breathlessness was assessed by VAS; lung function was measured by spirometry. BD testing was performed in all children. RESULTS: In children with bronchial obstruction, VAS at baseline was 4.7 and significantly increased to 6.9 (p<0.001) after BD. In children without bronchial obstruction, VAS at baseline was 7.4, but further significantly increased to 8.4 after BD testing (p<0.01). There was a significant difference in Δ VAS between children with bronchial reversibility and children without it (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates that VAS might be considered an initial tool to assess the BD response in children with asthma, mainly with overt bronchial obstruction.
BACKGROUND: Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) has been proposed as a useful tool for assessing the perception of asthma symptoms, a cornerstone in disease management. While airway flow limitation and its reversibility are thought to be a useful marker of disease severity, there are very few studies that evaluated the response to bronchodilation (BD) testing perception by VAS. To investigate whether VAS assessment of breathlessness perception could provide a useful tool to assess the response to BD testing in asthmatic children. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included a total of 150 children (96 males, mean age 11.05 years) with asthma, 50 had bronchial obstruction (i.e. FEV1 <80% of predicted). Perception of breathlessness was assessed by VAS; lung function was measured by spirometry. BD testing was performed in all children. RESULTS: In children with bronchial obstruction, VAS at baseline was 4.7 and significantly increased to 6.9 (p<0.001) after BD. In children without bronchial obstruction, VAS at baseline was 7.4, but further significantly increased to 8.4 after BD testing (p<0.01). There was a significant difference in Δ VAS between children with bronchial reversibility and children without it (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates that VAS might be considered an initial tool to assess the BD response in children with asthma, mainly with overt bronchial obstruction.
Authors: Amelia Licari; Ilaria Brambilla; Alessia Marseglia; Maria De Filippo; Valeria Paganelli; Gian L Marseglia Journal: Front Pediatr Date: 2018-06-19 Impact factor: 3.418
Authors: Amelia Licari; Giorgio Ciprandi; Gian Luigi Marseglia; Michela Silvestri; Maria Angela Tosca; Elisa Anastasio; Ilaria Brambilla; Carlo Caffarelli; Riccardo Castagnoli; Loredana Chini; Riccardo Ciprandi; Valentina De Vittori; Marzia Duse; Maria Elisa Di Cicco; Luciana Indinnimeo; Ahmad Kantar; Maddalena Leone; Guido Marinelli; Viviana Moschese; Roberta Olcese; Diego G Peroni; Angela Pistorio; Claudia Salmaso; Anna Maria Zicari Journal: Acta Biomed Date: 2020-09-15