title: Perception of bronchodilation assessed by Visual Analogue Scale in children with asthma.
abstract: 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.affiliation: Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy Unit, Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Angela
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tosca
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silvestri
authors.forename: Giovanni Arturo
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciprandi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001985:Bronchial Provocation Tests; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D064232:Visual Analog Scale
keywords: Asthma; Breathlessness; Bronchodilation; Children; Reversibility; VAS