INTRODUCTIONThe Asthma Control Test (ACT) is a 5-item self-administered tool designed to assess asthma control. It is said to be simple, easy and can be administered quickly by patients in the clinical practice setting. This stated benefit has yet to be demonstrated in our local clinical practice setting. The aim was to identify factors associated with difficulty in the administration of the ACT in different clinical practice settings in a tertiary hospital in Singapore.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThis is a prospective study performed from April to June 2008. All patients diagnosed with asthma and referred to an asthma nurse from the in-patient and out-patient clinical practice setting in Tan Tock Seng Hospital were enrolled.

RESULTSFour hundred and thirty-four patients were asked to complete the ACT tool. In the univariate model, we found that age, clinical setting and medical history to be significantly associated with the completion of the ACT. The odds of completion decreased by a factor of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.89 to 0.94) for every year's increase in age, and this was statistically significant (P <0.001). Similarly, the odds ratio of completion for those with more than 3 medical conditions by history were 0.59 (95% CI, 0.48 to 0.71) as compared to those with less than 3 medical conditions by history, and this was also significant (P <0.001). In the multivariate model, we only found age to be an independent and significant factor. After adjusting for age, none of the other variables initially significant in the univariate model remained significant.

CONCLUSIONThe results show that the ACT was simple and easy to be administered in younger-aged patients.