title: Asthma in pregnancy: association between the Asthma Control Test and the Global Initiative for Asthma classification and comparisons with spirometry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to identify a possible association between the assessment of clinical asthma control using the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) classification and to perform comparisons with values of spirometry.
  
  
  METHODS
  Through this cross-sectional study, 103 pregnant women with asthma were assessed in the period from October 2010 to October 2013 in the asthma pregnancy clinic at the Clinical Hospital of the Federal University of Pernambuco. Questionnaires concerning the level of asthma control were administered using the Global Initiative for Asthma classification, the Asthma Control Test validated for asthmatic expectant mothers and spirometry; all three methods of assessing asthma control were performed during the same visit between the twenty-first and twenty-seventh weeks of pregnancy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant association between clinical asthma control assessment using the Asthma Control Test and the Global Initiative for Asthma classification (p<0.001). There were also significant associations between the results of the subjective instruments of asthma (the GINA classification and the ACT) and evidence of lung function by spirometry.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that both the Global Initiative for Asthma classification and the Asthma Control Test can be used for asthmatic expectant mothers to assess the clinical control of asthma, especially at the end of the second trimester, which is assumed to be the period of worsening asthma exacerbations during pregnancy. We highlight the importance of the Asthma Control Test as a subjective instrument with easy application, easy interpretation and good reproducibility that does not require spirometry to assess the level of asthma control and can be used in the primary care of asthmatic expectant mothers.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: georgiaveras@uol.com.br.
authors.forename: Georgia Véras
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: de Araujo
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Débora F B
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Postgraduate Health Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Emanuel S C
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Sarinho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013147:Spirometry; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents
keywords: Asthma Control Test (ACT); Asthma in pregnancy; Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA); Spirometry