Limitations of asthma control questionnaires in the management and follow up of childhood asthma.

It is important to achieve asthma control whenever possible in clinical practice. Asthma control questionnaires undoubtedly provide a useful measure of asthma control in research studies but their place in routine clinical practice has yet to be secured. There is considerable variation in the results yielded from different validated asthma control tools. It remains to be seen whether they improve the reliability of reporting of symptoms to health care professionals when compared to verbal reporting. In the presence of sensible care from compassionate and well informed doctors and nurses asthma control questionnaires will not improve outcomes for children. A patient-focused clinical encounter supplemented with lung function measurements and occasional eNO testing has more to offer families and children than control questionnaires and their routine use in the clinic cannot be recommended on the basis of current evidence.