Update of Asthma Assessment in Children

The assessment of asthma in children is critical to determining when to start, stop and adjust daily antiinflammatory controller medications, and to achieving optimal asthma outcomes. Several key aspects of asthma management are discussed including; 1) establishing a diagnosis of asthma, 2) classifying asthma severity or control, 3) assigning treatment (e.g., determining which patients are in need of daily controller medications), and 4) evaluating how well a patient is responding to prescribed asthma therapy. Use of validated control measures has been encouraged in the 2007 EPR-3 NIH asthma guidelines as means of facilitating the assessment of asthma control. Several measures of asthma control are included for use in clinical practice.