Prospective observational study validating the German version of the Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test (CARAT10)

Validation of the Spanish language version of the control of allergic rhinitis and asthma test

Allergic rhinitis and asthma are common diseases that frequently coexist, referred to as unified airway disease. There is currently no validated scale in Spanish, which allows simultaneous evaluation of both conditions. A translation from Portuguese to Spanish was therefore performed. It was administered to 120 patients aged between 18 and 70 years whose native language was Spanish and presented a diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and asthma. The reliability, validity and sensitivity to instrument change validations were carried out, as well as the values of minimally relevant clinical differences. Reliability was evaluated using Cronbach´s alpha test on CARAT-global: 0.83 [IC 95% 0.79–0.88]; test and retest evaluation was done with Pearson´s correlation coefficient: 0.6 [IC 95% 0.32–0.77] and the standard error of measurement 3.5 (p < 0.005). A confirmatory factor analysis was performed corroborating two factors. Correlation coefficients were not high in the longitudinal validation. Concurrent validity showed an acceptable correlation between CARAT10 asthma ACQ5 and low between allergic rhinitis-VAS. There was a milestone of the controlled disease in the discriminant validity of CARAT10 rhinitis ≥ 8 mean an adequate control, CARAT10-asthma > 16 In this case, CARAT10-asthma value < 16 are interpreted as an inadequate or partial control and values ≥ 16 mean an adequate control and CARAT10-global ≥ 18, patients evaluated with CARAT10 with a result ≥ 18, which would be a patient with both conditions controlled. The minimally relevant clinically important average difference found in the CARAT10 scale was 3.25 (SD 3.77). The CARAT10 scale in Spanish is a standardised, reliable and valid evaluation method on patients with unified airway disease.

Turkish language validity and reliability of the Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test and its comparison with other scales

OBJECTIVES

Patients with asthma often suffer from concomitant allergic rhinitis (AR). The Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test (CARAT) is a validated tool to assess asthma and rhinitis multimorbidity. Turkish language validity and reliability of CARAT and its compatibility with other scales were evaluated in the study.

METHODS

Patients with asthma and concomitant AR were tested with CARAT. Pulmonary function tests, Asthma Control Test (ACT), Assessment Tool for Asthma (ATA) questionnaire and visual analogue scale (VAS) were also used at the same day. With the VAS, patients determined their rhinitis symptom levels, and asthma specialist determined the rhinitis and asthma control levels separately. These questionnaires were repeated in 14 ± 2 days.

RESULTS

Three quarters (77%) of the 100 patients were female (mean age 46.5 years). The mean CARAT score was 19.6 ± 7.2. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the Turkish version of the CARAT scale was 0.83, showing a high level of internal consistency. Test-retest reliability coefficient was determined as r = 0.98 (p < 0.001). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient of the CARAT scale was 0.79. The p value of the Bartlett test was <0.001. ACT, ATA and VAS expert scales were correlated with CARAT total score (0.577 ≤ r ≤ 0.871). The CARAT scale did not show statistically significant difference according to gender, education, working status, smoking status, presence of polyps and multiple allergen sensitivity (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The Turkish version of the CARAT is a reliable alternative tool for physicians in determining disease control in adult patients with asthma and AR.