Asthma in Greenland - development and evaluation of the asthma symptom score

Abstract

This study describes the development of the Asthma Symptom Score (ASS) and evaluates its accuracy and internal consistency in Greenlandic and Danish, using clinical interviews based on Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines as the gold standard. A cross-sectional study was conducted across all regions of Greenland, targeting citizens aged 12+, using data from the electronic medical record. The ASS (n = 94) was validated against clinical interviews using a receiver operating characteristic curve, yielding an area under the curve estimate of 0.91, indicating strong agreement. The ASS demonstrated a sensitivity of 83%, a specificity of 93%, and an overall agreement of 87%. Patients scoring 0–5 points were categorised as having controlled asthma, while those scoring 6–20 points were categorised as non-controlled. Among participants completing both the ASS and the clinical interview, 57% were classified as having non-controlled asthma. The ASS demonstrated acceptable internal consistency in both Greenlandic and Danish. These findings underscore the need for improved management of asthma in Greenland. The strong correlation between the ASS and clinical interviews suggests that the ASS may be a valuable tool in clinical practice for assessing asthma control among patients with a confirmed diagnosis. However, further validation including a larger study group, and test – retest reliability is recommended.

Keywords

• Asthma
• prevalence
• Greenland
• asthma symptom score
• symptom burden
• ASS