title: The development and test re-test reliability of a work-related asthma screening questionnaire.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Work-related asthma (WRA) is under-recognized and delays in recognition contribute to long-term morbidity. The objective of the project was to develop a WRA screening questionnaire for use by primary care providers in the assessment of individuals with asthma, and to evaluate the respondent burden, test re-test reliability and face validity of the questionnaire.
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature search was undertaken and an expert advisory committee was convened. A questionnaire was drafted and assessed for feasibility of use and content validity. The study enrolled patients with asthma attending outpatient clinics and an asthma education center. Participants were asked to respond to the questionnaire on two occasions, and comment on the content (face validity) and ease of completion (respondent burden). Ethics approval was obtained from an institutional review board.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A 14-item self-administered screening questionnaire was created. Thirty-nine participants were recruited, and 26 participants completed a second administration of the questionnaire. The items on the relation of asthma symptoms to work demonstrated substantial agreement between testings. The workplace exposures items were found to have good reproducibility. The majority of participants denied that items were repetitive, not useful or difficult to understand.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have developed a WRA screening questionnaire designed to aid primary care providers in the recognition of possible WRA. The tool exhibited content and face validity, good test re-test reliability and low respondent burden. Participant feedback is being considered in revisions of the questionnaire.
authors.affiliation: Asthma Research Unit, Kingston General Hospital , Kingston, Ontario , Canada .
authors.forename: Katie R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Killorn
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Dostaler
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olajos-Clow
authors.forename: Scott E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Turcotte
authors.forename: Janice P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Minard
authors.forename: D Linn
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Holness
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kudla
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lemière
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: To
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liss
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tarlo
authors.forename: M Diane
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Lougheed
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016272:Occupational Health; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Occupational asthma; prevention; primary care; questionnaire; work-aggravated asthma; work-exacerbated asthma