CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGIC ISSUES IN QUANTIFYING PERCEPTUAL ACCURACYIN CHILDHOOD ASTHMA

Delineated methodologic issues in the study of symptom perception in c hildhood asthma, A review of past and recent psychophysiological and c linical studies of both adults and children presents the methodologic and analytic approaches that have been applied to quantify perceptual accuracy. Peak expiratory flow rate, forced expiratory volume in the f irst second, and force expiratory flow can serve as objective measures of asthma. A visual analog scale, a numerical guess, and a categorica l description as subjective measures all have clear strengths and weak nesses, Correlational analysis of subjective-objective data, arithmeti c differences between subjective guess and objective value, and an err or grid categorization can each be applied to calculate an accuracy in dex on an individual subject. Illustrative examples reveal that the sa me data lead to different indices depending on the method chosen. Empi rical research is needed to standardize various methodologic approache s. Given the increasing prevalence, severity, and morbidity of pediatr ic asthma, the study of symptom perception may be a critical component in our understanding of asthma management, and will likely lead to us eful clinical interventions.