Peat J K, Salome C M, Toelle B G, Bauman A, Woolcock A J
Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, Australia.
Chest. 1992 Jul;102(1):153-7. doi: 10.1378/chest.102.1.153.
Because there is no consensus definition of asthma for epidemiology, we have examined the reliability of a questionnaire and the effect of its mode of administration on classification of asthma in children. A symptom history questionnaire was parent self-administered and then readministered within three months by a nurse. The questions of diagnosed asthma, cumulative wheeze, and recent wheeze (wheeze in the previous 12 months) were more repeatable than questions of night cough, but 7 percent of children changed diagnosed asthma category, 13 percent changed cumulative wheeze category, and 9 percent changed recent wheeze category at second questionnaire. Because the numbers who changed from symptom positive to negative roughly equalled the changes from negative to positive, prevalence estimates were not affected. Methods of measuring asthma with greater precision are urgently needed. Because of reporting bias, epidemiologic information collected by current questionnaires should be treated with some caution.
由于在流行病学中对哮喘尚无共识定义，我们研究了一份问卷的可靠性及其发放方式对儿童哮喘分类的影响。一份症状病史问卷由家长自行填写，然后在三个月内由一名护士再次填写。已诊断哮喘、累计喘息和近期喘息（过去12个月内喘息）的问题比夜间咳嗽问题更具可重复性，但在第二次问卷时，7%的儿童改变了已诊断哮喘类别，13%改变了累计喘息类别，9%改变了近期喘息类别。由于从症状阳性变为阴性的人数大致等于从阴性变为阳性的人数，患病率估计未受影响。迫切需要更精确地测量哮喘的方法。由于报告偏倚，当前问卷收集的流行病学信息应谨慎对待。
