title: Electronic monitoring of symptoms and lung function to assess asthma control in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asthma remains poorly controlled in children. Home monitoring of asthma control may help to improve the level of asthma control.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare 2 methods to assess asthma control: (1) prospective home monitoring, based on daily assessment of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and electronic symptom score, and (2) Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) with retrospective assessment of symptoms and FEV1.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-six children with asthma were prospectively followed up during 1 year. Asthma control was assessed by home monitoring, including an electronic symptom score based on Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) criteria and FEV1 measurements. In the hospital, the ACQ was completed and FEV₁ was measured. Kappa analysis was performed to assess levels of agreement between the 2 methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Agreement between the 2 methods was low (κ coefficient of 0.393). In 29 children (37%), prospective home monitoring was less optimistic than the retrospective assessment of asthma control by the ACQ.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study found low agreement between asthma control based on GINA criteria by means of prospective home monitoring and the hospital ACQ. The prospective home monitor detected more cases of less well-controlled asthma than the ACQ. However, optimization of adherence to home monitor use is necessary.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01239238.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. Electronic address: dillys.van.vliet@mumc.nl.
authors.forename: Dillys
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Vliet
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Horck
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: van de Kant
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vaassen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sjoerd
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gulikers
authors.affiliation: Department of Methodology and Statistics, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bjorn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Winkens
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Orbis Medical Center, Sittard, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rosias
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Orbis Medical Center, Sittard, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heynens
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muris
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Technology Assessment, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Essers
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Quirijn
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jöbsis
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dompeling
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires