Questions used to measure asthma, symptoms and possible risk factors, with their repeatability
| Question | No of responses1-150 | ACC (95% CI) | Kappa (95% CI) |
| Asthma ever | |||
| Has your child ever been diagnosed as having asthma by a doctor or at a hospital? | 102 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Symptoms | |||
| Has your child ever wheezed? (Wheezing is a whistling noise that comes from the chest) | 104 | 0.97 (0.94 to 0.99) | 0.84 (0.73 to 0.95) |
| If yes, was this in the last 12 months? | 28 | 0.94 (0.88 to 1.01) | 0.60 (0.20 to 1.01) |
| Has your child ever had wheezing during or after physical activity? | 102 | 0.98 (0.96 to 1.00) | 0.85 (0.71 to 0.99) |
| If yes, was this in the last 12 months? | 15 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Has your child ever had a cough which lasted more than 3 weeks? | 103 | 0.94 (0.91 to 0.98) | 0.74 (0.60 to 0.89) |
| If yes, was this in the last 12 months? | 29 | 0.90 (0.82 to 0.99) | 0.55 (0.20 to 0.90) |
| Medications | |||
| Has your child ever taken any of the following medicines (medicine includes inhalers, liquids, tablets, nebulisers): | |||
| (a) Ventolin, Bricanyl, Berotec, Respolin | 104 | 0.99 (0.97 to 1.00) | 0.94 (0.87 to 1.01) |
| In the last 12 months, how often has your child taken this medicine (not at all, <4 times, 4–12 times, >12 times)? | 41 | 0.73 (0.61 to 0.85) | 0.52 (0.32 to 0.72)1-151 |
| b) Intal, Becotide, Becloforte, Pulmicort | 81 | 0.99 (0.97 to 1.00) | 0.93 (0.84 to 1.03) |
| In the last 12 months, how often has your child taken this medicine (not at all, <4 times, 4–12 times, >12 times)? | 19 | 0.85 (0.73 to 0.98) | 0.63 (0.33 to 0.92)1-151 |
| Personal information | |||
| Is your child male or female? (male/female) | 104 | 0.99 (0.98 to 1.00) | 0.96 (0.91 to 1.01) |
| How many brothers and sisters does he/she have? (number) | 104 | 1.00 | 1.001-151 |
| Diet | |||
| Was your child breast fed? | 104 | 0.98 (0.96 to 1.00) | 0.80 (0.61 to 0.99) |
| If yes, for how long was your child exclusively breast fed? (months) | 85 | 0.741-152 | |
| Which of the following fats does your child usually have on bread or toast: butter; canola or soy; other e.g. sunflower, safflower, mixed vegetable? | 101 | 0.90 (0.85 to 0.94) | 0.72 (0.60 to 0.83) |
| When roasting/frying your child's food which type of fat/oil is most commonly used: butter, lard, dripping; olive or canola; other e.g. sunflower, safflower, corn, peanut? | 103 | 0.95 (0.92 to 0.98) | 0.79 (0.68 to 0.91) |
| Smoking | |||
| Did the child's mother smoke during pregnancy? | 103 | 0.99 (0.98 to 1.00) | 0.91 (0.79 to 1.03) |
| Did the child's mother smoke during the first 6 months of the child's life? | 102 | 0.99 (0.98 to 1.00) | 0.92 (0.80 to 1.03) |
| Did the child's father smoke during the first 6 months of the child's life? | 103 | 0.98 (0.96 to 1.00) | 0.91 (0.82 to 1.00) |
| Respiratory illnesses | |||
| Has your child ever been diagnosed as having any of the following illnesses by a doctor or at a hospital: | |||
| (a) Pneumonia? | 104 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| (b) Bronchiolitis? | 102 | 0.97 (0.95 to 0.99) | 0.59 (0.30 to 0.89) |
| (c) Whooping cough? | 103 | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.00) | 0.80 (0.40 to 1.19) |
| (d) Bronchitis? | 101 | 0.95 (0.92 to 0.98) | 0.66 (0.47 to 0.86) |
| (e) Croup? | 102 | 0.97 (0.95 to 0.99) | 0.75 (0.56 to 0.94) |
| Age at diagnosis (<1 year, 1–<2 years, 2–<3 years, ⩾3 years)1-153 |
ACC = average correct classification.
Data are for 104 repeat questionnaires; possible responses are “yes” or “no” unless indicated after the question.
↵1-150 For both questionnaires.
↵1-151 Weighted kappa was used.
↵1-152 Statistic used was the intraclass correlation coefficient because data are continuous.
↵1-153 Repeatability not calculated because there were too few responses (<12) to this question for each of the illnesses.