Asthma Assessment Resources

The following asthma assessment resources may be useful in the assessment of people with severe asthma:

Intended to provide a practical structure, this checklist can be used to inform the diagnosis and characterisation of severe asthma in the clinic. This checklist was developed within the Centre of Excellence in Severe Asthma and published in (Wark et al. 2016).

Access here: http://www.severeasthma.org.au/severe-asthma-checklist/

A graphic summarising the severe asthma checklist is available here: Severe Asthma Checklist Overview

The ACQ-5 assesses asthma control using the 5-item ACQ-5 questionnaire (Juniper et al. 2005). Alternatively, the ACQ-7 also includes assessment of FEV₁ and daily rescue medication use. An ACQ score <0.75 indicates well-controlled asthma, and >1.5 indicates poorly controlled asthma. A change in ACQ score of 0.5 is considered the minimal clinically important difference.

For permissions and access: https://www.qoltech.co.uk/acq.html

The “Asthma Score” is a questionnaire-based tool that can be used to standardise the review of asthma symptoms. It was developed by QualityMetric Incorporated and GlaxoSmithKline and is available through the Asthma Handbook site. A score of 20-25 indicates asthma is controlled, while a score of < 15 indicates poor control.

For information and access: http://www.asthmahandbook.org.au/resources/tools/control-questionnaires

The AQLQ is a disease-specific quality of life tool that measures the functional impairments that most concern people with asthma. The questionnaire consists of 32 questions, a seven-point Likert scale of responses is provided for each question. The questionnaire assesses the impact of asthma on quality of life over the previous 2 weeks. Four domains are covered, these include; asthma symptoms, activity limitation, emotional function and emotional stimuli. An improvement of 0.5 or greater is considered clinically significant (Juniper et al. 1993).

For information and access: https://www.qoltech.co.uk/aqlq.html

The SGRQ is a self-administered Health Related Quality of Life measure containing 50 items and 76 weighted responses divided into three components: Symptoms, Activity, and Impacts. Scores ranging from 0 to 100 are calculated for each component, as well as a total score which summarizes the responses to all items. A zero score indicates no impairment and an increasing score indicates increased impairment. A minimum change of 4 units is considered clinically significant. The SGRQ has been validated for use in severe asthma and other chronic airway diseases (Nelsen et al. 2017).

For information and access: https://www.sgul.ac.uk/research/research-operations/research-administration/st-georges-respiratory-questionnaire

The 2022 “Difficult-to-treat and Severe Asthma” pocket guide was developed by GINA. The goal of the Pocket Guide is to provide a practical summary for health professionals about how to identify, assess and manage difficult-to-treat and severe asthma in adolescents and adults. It is intended for use by general practitioners (GPs, primary care physicians), pulmonary specialists and other health professionals involved in the management of people with asthma.