Test for respiratory and asthma control in kids (TRACK): a caregiver-completed questionnaire for preschool-aged children.
BACKGROUND
A validated questionnaire is needed to monitor respiratory control in preschool-aged children.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to develop and validate a caregiver-completed questionnaire that measures respiratory control in young children.


METHODS
A 33-item questionnaire that included asthma impairment and risk items was administered to 486 caregivers of children aged younger than 5 years with a current, recent, or past history of respiratory symptoms. Stepwise regression was used to select a subset of items with the greatest discriminant validity in relation to guidelines-defined asthma control in a random two-thirds development sample. Reliability, validity, and ability to screen for respiratory control problems were tested in development and validation samples (remaining one-third sample).


RESULTS
The content of the 5 items selected, the Test for Respiratory and Asthma Control in Kids (TRACK), included frequency of respiratory symptoms (wheeze, cough, shortness of breath), activity limitation, and nighttime awakenings in the past 4 weeks; rescue medication use in the past 3 months; and oral corticosteroid use in the previous year. Reliability was greater than 0.70 in both samples. ANOVA showed that mean scores differed significantly (P < .001) in the expected direction across both samples for 3 levels of guidelines-based respiratory control, physician-recommended change in therapy, and symptom status. In the development and validation samples, screening analyses revealed areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.88 and 0.82, respectively; control status was correctly classified in 81% and 78% of cases.


CONCLUSIONS
TRACK is a valid, easy-to-administer, caregiver-completed questionnaire of respiratory control in preschool-aged children with symptoms consistent with asthma.
Murphy
Kevin R
KR
Boys Town National Research Hospital, Allergy, Asthma & Pediatric Pulmonology, 14080 Hospital Road, Omaha, NE 68010, USA. murphyk@boystown.org
Zeiger
Robert S
RS
Kosinski
Mark
M
Chipps
Bradley
B
Mellon
Michael
M
Schatz
Michael
M
Lampl
Kathy
K
Hanlon
Jennifer T
JT
Ramachandran
Sulabha
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy*; D017028:Caregivers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D012119:Respiration; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires