Table 1.
AIRQ Item Selection Based on a Validation Standard of ACT Plus Prior-Year Exacerbations vs ACT Alone
| Question | Validation standard: ACT Plus Prior-year Exacerbationsa | Validation standard: ACT Alone | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dependent variable: WC vs NWC/VPC | Dependent variable: WC/NWC vs VPC | Dependent variable: WC vs NWC/VPC | Dependent variable: WC/NWC vs VPC | |
| 1. Are you currently prescribed any of the inhalers below? (GINA 4/5 ICS/LABA fixed-dose combinations) | – | – | – | – |
| In the past 2 weeks, has coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, or chest tightness: | ||||
| 2. Caused you to use your rescue inhaler or nebulizer more than 4 times? | – | – | – | P < 0.05 |
| 3. Limited the activities you want to do every day? | P < 0.05 | – | P < 0.05 | P < 0.05 |
| 4. Bothered you during the day on more than 4 days? | P < 0.001 | – | P < 0.001 | – |
| 5. Woke you up from sleep more than 1 time? | – | P < 0.05 | P < 0.001 | P < 0.001 |
| In the past 12 months has coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, or chest tightness: | ||||
| 6. Caused you to take steroid pills or shots, such as prednisone or Medrol? | P < 0.001 | P < 0.001 | – | – |
| 7. Caused you to go to the emergency department or have unplanned visits to a health care provider? | – | P < 0.001 | – | – |
| 8. Caused you to stay in the hospital overnight? | – | – | – | – |
| Has coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, or shortness of breath: | ||||
| 9. Ever caused you to be in an intensive care unit, have a breathing tube put down your throat, or made you think your life was in danger? | – | – | – | – |
| Spirometry is a breathing test where you are coached to blow all your air out as hard and as fast as you can (“blow, blow, blow”) until there is no more air to blow out: | ||||
| 10. Has it been more than a year since you had this test? | – | – | – | – |
| In the past 2 weeks: | ||||
| 11. Did you have to limit your social activities (such as visiting with friends/relatives or playing with pets/children) because of your asthma? | P < 0.001 | P < 0.001 | P < 0.05 | P < 0.05 |
| 12. Do you feel that it is difficult to control your asthma? | – | P < 0.001 | P < 0.05 | P < 0.05 |
| 13. Has wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, or chest tightness caused you to use your rescue inhaler or nebulizer every day? | P < 0.001 | P < 0.001 | P < 0.05 | P < 0.05 |
| 14. Has wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, or chest tightness limited your ability to exercise? | P < 0.05 | – | P < 0.001 | P < 0.05 |
| 15. Has wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, or chest tightness bothered you during the day every day? | – | – | – | P < 0.05 |
Notes: aAdapted from Murphy KR, Chipps B, Beuther DA et al. Development of the Asthma Impairment and Risk Questionnaire (AIRQ): a composite control measure. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract, volume 8(7), 2263–2274 e2265, copyright 2020, with permission from Elsevier.3 Bold rows indicate the 7 impairment questions included in the final AIRQ.
Abbreviations: ACT, Asthma Control Test; AIRQ, Asthma Impairment and Risk Questionnaire; GINA, Global Initiative for Asthma; ICS, inhaled corticosteroid; LABA, long-acting beta-agonist; NWC, not well-controlled; VPC, very poorly controlled; WC, well-controlled.