NDLI: Continuing the debate about measuring asthma in populationstudies

Content Provider	PubMed Central
Author	Peat, J. Toelle, B. Marks, G. Mellis, C.
Abstract	The reasons for measuring atopy and airway hyperresponsiveness(AHR) and the methods of validating measurements of asthma inpopulation studies continue to be debated. The debate has centred around standards against which to validate asthma measurements but theabsence of a "gold standard" makes the criterion validation ofmeasurements difficult. Questionnaires will always be useful but cannotbe validated against a doctor diagnosis because of self-selection andrecall biases. In practice, measurements should be selected on themerits of what they measure rather than being regarded as validated ornon-validated alternatives. The measurement of AHR is invaluablebecause it is reliable, not influenced by variations in symptomperception or diagnostic trends, and is closely related to theunderlying mechanisms of asthma. The value of AHR lies in its highspecificity (rate of true negatives) and low sensitivity (rate of falsepositives) against asthma symptoms which gives additional informationabout symptomatic subjects. Atopy is also a useful test and, inquantifying its association with asthma, we should not place anycurrency on ecological evidence. Atopy is a strong risk factor forasthma in the presence of regionally specific allergens and ecologicalanalyses that ignore these effects are diversionary rather thanproductive. For preventing asthma, we need to identify the group atgreatest risk of developing it, measure the risk factors withprecision, and develop interventions that are effective in changingenvironmental exposures and homogenous outcomes. This is the onlyapproach that has the potential to lead to significant public health benefits.
Related Links	http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/thorax.56.5.406
Ending Page	411
Page Count	6
Starting Page	406
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00406376
e-ISSN	14683296
Journal	Thorax
Issue Number	5
Volume Number	56
Language	English
Publisher	BMJ Group
Publisher Date	2001-05-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights Holder	BMJ Group
Subject Keyword	Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine Research in Higher Education
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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