Examining the Relationship Between Two Pediatric Asthma-Related Quality of Life Metrics

Abstract

The Childhood Asthma Control Test (c-ACT) and the Pediatric Asthma Impact Scale (PAIS) are tools used to evaluate asthma control and asthma-related quality-of-life, respectively, in pediatric populations. The c-ACT is the gold-standard for asthma outcome measurements, whereas the PAIS is a newer tool that offers the benefit of being a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM). We aim to determine if the PAIS and the c-ACT measure similar outcomes, and could be used as proxies for each other. 39 pediatric patients (mean age 10, range 7 to 16) used the ASTHMAXcel mobile application to learn about asthma management through videos and games. At baseline, 4-month, and 6-month clinic visits, patients were administered the PAIS and the c-ACT. Scores on the tests were standardized to a 100-point scale, and the relationships of the scores at each visit and between visits were analyzed using the Pearson correlation. Significant correlations were found between scores on the PAIS and the c-ACT at the baseline, 4-month, and 6-month visits (r=0.05, p<0.01; r=0.52, p<0.01; r=0.55, p<0.01, respectively). Significant correlations were once again found when comparing changes between baseline and 4-month visits, baseline and 6-month visits, and 4-month and 6-month visits (r=0.57, p<0.01; r=0.47, p<0.01; r=0.40, p<0.01, respectively). A strong correlation exists between the outcome measurements of the PAIS and the c-ACT. These results indicate that there is potential to use the newer PAIS to measure similar outcomes as the c-ACT, particularly given its advantage as a PROM.