title: Development of a clinical asthma score for use in hospitalized children between 1 and 5 years of age.
abstract: The objective of this study was to develop a clinical asthma score (CAS) for use in hospitalized children between 1 and 5 years of age. Formal approaches to item selection and reduction, reliability, discriminatory power, validity, and responsiveness were used. The final CAS consisted of five clinical characteristics: respiratory rate, wheezing, indrawing, observed dyspnea, and inspiratory-to-expiratory ratio. Interrater reliability was high (weighted kappa = 0.82), and the CAS was discriminatory (Ferguson's delta = 0.92). The CAS was valid, with a strong correlation with length of hospital stay (Spearman's correlation = 0.47, p < 0.05) and drug dosing interval (Spearman's correlation = -0.58, p < 0.01). The CAS was responsive, with a significant change in CAS from admission to discharge (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p < 0.01). This score, for use in hospitalized preschool children, is reliable, discriminatory, valid, and responsive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Parkin
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macarthur
authors.forename: N R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Diamond
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Winders
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index