How does the Canadian Acute Respiratory Illness and Flu Scale relate to other scales in paediatric asthma exacerbations?

Abstract

Background: In acute asthma, respiratory tract infection and asthma symptoms overlap and impact parental burden. Objectives: In children with asthma exacerbations, we evaluated the relationship between the Canadian Acute Respiratory Illness and Flu Scale (CARIFS) scores and (a) Asthma Diary Scale (ADS) scores for 14 days; (b) Paediatric Asthma Caregiver's Quality of Life (QoL) Questionnaire (PACQLQ) on days 1, 7 and 14; (c) viral detection. We hypothesized that in children with acute asthma, CARIFS scores correlate with ADS scores and PACQLQ over time and viruses have little impact on CARIFS scores. Methods: In children 2-16 years old presenting with acute asthma to 2 Emergency Departments, we documented clinical history, examination, asthma severity at baseline and on presentation. Eighteen respiratory pathogens were determined by PCR on nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA). Parents recorded their child's daily CARIFS and asthma diaries and weekly PACQLQ for 14 days. We used Spearman's correlation to relate the above scores of 108 children. Results: CARIFS scores correlated with ADS scores throughout 14 days (rs ranged 0.30-0.67, p=0.0001-0.002). CARIFS scores and PACQLQ correlated on days 1 (rs =-0.278, 95% CI -0.45, -0.09, p= 0.004) and 14 (rs =-0.443, 95% CI -0.59, -0.27, p=0.0001). There was no significant difference in CARIFS scores between children who were NPA PCR virus positive or negative over 14 days. Conclusions: CARIFS and ADS scores correlated well as a disease severity measure during the recovery period in children with acute asthma. Although the CARIFS questionnaire takes longer to complete, it reflects different aspects to acute asthma severity and QoL.L6381961402022-06-14 <br />