An exercise challenge for epidemiological studies of childhood asthma: Validity and repeatability

Abstract

We assessed the validity, repeatability and practicality of a standardized exercise challenge protocol for measuring airway responsiveness in epidemiological studies of asthma in children aged 8-11 yrs. The construct validity of the exercise challenge was assessed by comparing response to exercise with other measures of asthma, i.e. wheeze frequency, diagnosed asthma, asthma medication use, atopy and urgent doctor visits (n=802), and by comparison with response to histamine challenge (n=201). Repeatability was assessed by comparison of responsiveness to two exercise challenges within 3 days (n=113), and practicality was assessed by measurement of consent, compliance and throughput rates (n=8..