title: Visual analogue scales (VAS): Measuring instruments for the documentation of symptoms and therapy monitoring in cases of allergic rhinitis in everyday health care: Position Paper of the German Society of Allergology (AeDA) and the German Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (DGAKI), ENT Section, in collaboration with the working group on Clinical Immunology, Allergology and Environmental Medicine of the German Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNOKHC).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Visual analogue scales (VAS) are psychometric measuring instruments designed to document the characteristics of disease-related symptom severity in individual patients and use this to achieve a rapid (statistically measurable and reproducible) classification of symptom severity and disease control. VAS can also be used in routine patient history taking and to monitor the course of a chronic disease such as allergic rhinitis (AR). More specifically, the VAS has been used to assess effectiveness of AR therapy in real life, both in intermittent and persistent disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  This position paper takes a detailed look at the historical development of VAS and its method-specific principles. Particular focus is put on aspects of practical application in daily routine and on a critical discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the individual methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  VAS are well validated for the measurement of AR symptoms and correlate well with the ARIA (allergic rhinitis and its impact on asthma) severity classification and also correlated well with rTNSS and RQLQ. Moreover, several treatment studies on AR have used VAS as an evaluation parameter. Thanks to the use of new (real-life and real-time) communication technologies, such as smartphone apps, Discussion: VAS can be used relatively simply and highly effectively to assess disease control. The VAS lends itself very well to digitization and has now been incorporated into a smartphone app (called Allergy Diary) to assess AR control and direct treatment decisions as part of an AR clinical decision support system (CDSS). MASK Rhinitis has developed this app, which is currently available in 15 different languages.
authors.affiliation: Center for Rhinology and Allergology, An den Quellen 10, 65183 Wiesbaden, Germany.
authors.forename: Ludger
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Klimek
authors.affiliation: Charité Allergy Center, Department of Dermatology, Venereology, and Allergology, Charité, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl-Christian
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.affiliation: Department and Outpatient Clinic for Dermatology and Allergology am Biederstein, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Tilo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Biedermann
authors.affiliation: CHRU, Montpellier University Hospital Center, Montpellier, France.|MACVIA-LR, Montpellier, France.|INSERM, VIMA, Université Versailles St.-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Versailles, France.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bousquet
authors.affiliation: Institute for Otorhinolaryngology, Leuven University Hospital, Leuven, Belgium.|Institute für Otorhinolaryngology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hellings
authors.affiliation: Group Practice for Dermatology, Erfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Allergology - Department of Dermatology, RWTH University Hospital, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Merk
authors.affiliation: ENT Department, Charité University Hospital, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Olze
authors.affiliation: Formerly: Otorhinolaryngology, St. Marien Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schlenter
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Pneumology and Allergology, AKK Altonaer Children's Hospital, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stock
authors.affiliation: Department and Outpatient Clinic for Dermatology and Allergology am Biederstein, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.|Christine Kühne Center for Allergy Research and Education (CK-Care), Davos, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ring
authors.affiliation: Ear, Nose, and Throat Department, Düsseldorf University Hospital, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagenmann
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Group Practice, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wehrmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Statistics, Informatics and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mösges
authors.affiliation: Center for Rhinology and Allergology, An den Quellen 10, 65183 Wiesbaden, Germany.|Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Universitätsmedizin Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pfaar
keywords: Allergic rhinitis; Treatment monitoring; Visual analogue scales