Asthma Control Test™

The Asthma Control Test™ is a patient self-assessment tool of asthma control and is in no way intended as a substitute for the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Three Questions, which are recommended in the British Guideline on the Management of Asthma.
Asthma Control Test™ is a simple five-point questionnaire, which is self completed by patients. Each item is scored from one (poor control) to five (good control) and the scores added to give a final score with a maximum of 25.

The Asthma Control Test Five Questions are:

  1. During the past 4 weeks, how often did your asthma prevent you from getting as much done at work, school or home?
  2. During the past 4 weeks, how often have you had shortness of breath?
  3. During the past 4 weeks, how often did your asthma symptoms (wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, shortness of breath) wake you up at night or earlier than usual in the morning?
  4. During the past 4 weeks, how often have you used your reliever inhaler (usually blue)?

What you should do when a patient comes in with poor asthma control?

Before considering alteration of drug therapy the following should be considered:

  • Is the diagnosis correct? (Is there objective evidence of asthma?)
  • Are there any correctable trigger factors (including occupation)?
  • Does the patient have allergic rhinitis? (Treatment of this may help asthma control)
  • Is there patient compliance with the existing therapy?
  • Is the patient able to use their inhaler properly?
Click here to see the Asthma Control Test™.

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