• Yun Jung Choi, Gwang Cheon Jang, Hyeon-Jong Yang, Hyo-Bin Kim, Young Yoo, Meeyong Shin, So-Yeon Lee, Jakyoung Kim, Woo Kyung Kim, Dong In Suh, Young Yull Koh, and Korean childhood Asthma RESearch (KAERS) Group.
• Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2019 Jan 21; 34 (3): e25.

BackgroundTest for Respiratory and Asthma Control in Kids (TRACK) questionnaires were developed and validated in various languages to monitor respiratory control in preschool-aged children. We aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the TRACK questionnaire.MethodsWe administered the linguistically validated TRACK questionnaires to caregivers of asthmatic preschool children on two separate visits 4-6 weeks apart. Each physician graded the level of the guideline-based asthma control, assessed the timing of symptoms, and adjusted the therapeutic level at each visit.ResultsA total of 137 children were enrolled in the study. Cronbach's alpha was 0.65 for a questionnaire as a whole. The test-retest reliability was 0.72. The median TRACK scores were significantly different between asthma control status categories, with the lowest scores in children classified as poorly controlled and the highest in the well-controlled group (P < 0.001). They were different among groups classified according to the physician adjusted therapeutic levels, with the lowest values in children prescribed step-up therapy (P < 0.001), and according to the recency of respiratory symptoms (P < 0.001). Finally, the changes in TRACK scores between visits were highest in subjects showing improved control, followed by unchanged, and worsened control. When we applied the traditional cut-off of 80 for a well-controlled condition, a sensitivity of 75.6% and a specificity of 70.9% were calculated.ConclusionThe Korean translated version of the TRACK questionnaire is valid and reliable to assess respiratory and asthma control in Korean preschool children with asthma symptoms.

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