TOWARD A SIMPLIFIED MEASURE OF ASTHMA SEVERITY FOR APPLIED-RESEARCH

There is no universally accepted and validated measure of asthma sever ity. For community research, clinical tests are too costly, and epidem iological assessments provide inadequate data on severity. Symptom mea sures may offer a practical alternative. This study assessed psychomet ric properties of symptom ratings of 91 asthmatic children. Reliabilit y and validity of scales created from these items were examined. A sum scale of symptom ratings was internally consistent, reliable across t ime, and associated with concurrent health indices. This scale may be a practical measure of severity for use in community-based research.