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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Fawn Yeh, PhD, June E. Eichner, PhD, and Everett R. Rhoades, MD. Native American Prevention Research Center, University of Oklahoma, 800 N.E. 15th St., Room 532, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, 405 271-2330, fawn-yeh@ouhsc.edu
This study investigated the influence of choice of survey instrument on measurement of the prevalence of self-reported asthma among a group of American Indian students aged 9 to 21 years. Four instruments were utilized: video-based and written questionnaires prepared from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), school health records, and a modified health questionnaire. Pulmonary airflow rates were determined through routine spirometric measurements. Among 352 participants, 180 were female and 172 were male. The prevalence rate of clinical symptoms and signs of asthma elicited through the ISAAC video questionnaire was 12.7% (95% confidence interval (CI) 9.2% to 16.2%). The prevalence elicited by the question: “Have you ever had asthma?” in the ISAAC written questionnaire was 13.1% (95% CI 9.4% to 16.7%). When the question: "Has a physician ever told you that you had asthma?" from the health questionnaire was used, the prevalence was 12.8% (95% CI 8.9% to 16.6%). With the question: "Has your child ever had asthma?" reported by a parent (or guardian) on the school health record, the prevalence was 13.8% (95% CI 9.9% to 17.6%). Thus, the prevalence of asthma varied from 12.7% to 13.8%. However, agreement between different instruments was not strong suggesting that the instruments do not identify the same individuals with asthma. The video questionnaire exhibited the strongest association with abnormal pulmonary airflow. It is concluded that for this population, the video-based questionnaire may be most accurate in identifying individuals in need of further examination for asthma.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Screening, Methodology
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.