Validation and reproducibility of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Written Allergic Rhinitis Questionnaire for phone survey in children aged 6‒7 years

Abstract

Objective: To validate and assess the reproducibility of the ISAAC Written Allergic Rhinitis Questionnaire (WARQ) for children aged between 6 and 7 years by telephone contact. Methods: Observational study through interviews with guardians of children aged 6–7 years using the ISAAC Allergic Rhinitis (AR) module questionnaire in three different phases separated by 2 weeks each: telephone interviews in the first and third contacts and face-to-face interviews, with the same guardian of telephone interviews, in the second contact. Reproducibility was estimated using the Kappa index and validation using the sensitivity and specificity coefficients. Results: Data from 94 children (48 from the allergic rhinitis Control Group ‒ CG) were analyzed. Reproducibility showed perfect agreement (100%) for the question number 1 – Which refers to the symptoms of AR, ever: “Has your child ever had a problem with sneezing or a runny or a blocked nose when he/she did not have a cold or the flu?” and for the question number 2 – Which refers to current symptoms of AR: “In the past 12 months, has your child had a problem with sneezing or a runny or a blocked nose when he/she did not have a cold or the flu?” A strong agreement was also observed for the question number 3 (κ = 0.871) – it defines the presence of comorbidity of allergic rhinoconjuntivitis “In the past 12 months, has this nose problem been accompanied by itchy-watery eyes?” The validation showed high specificity (≥76.7%) and sensitivity (≥98%) for all questions, except for the ones related to seasonality and intensity of symptoms. Conclusions: Our results showed that the ISAAC AR module questionnaire by telephone interviews has good reproducibility and high agreement with the clinical diagnosis of AR. It may be an appropriate alternative tool in epidemiological studies of childhood AR, especially in periods of social isolation, such as Coronavirus pandemic. Level of evidence: Cohort Study. Level IV

Keywords

• Allergic rhinitis
• Epidemiology
• Validity
• Reproducibility
• Telephone interview