ArticlePrimary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group2012
Clinical implications of the Royal College of Physicians three questions in routine asthma care: a real-life validation study.
Article in Primary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review of questionnaires measuring asthma control in children in a primary care population.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A current assessment of family physicians' knowledge and attitudes toward asthma management in primary care in Turkey according to the GINA strategy report.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2025Article
- Creating expert patients: outcomes from a national digital therapeutic approach for people with asthma in Wales.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2025Article
- Home monitoring with connected mobile devices for asthma attack prediction with machine learning.Scientific data · 2023Observational
- Eosinophil granule proteins as a biomarker in managing asthma and allergies.Asia Pacific allergy · 2023Review
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- Approaches to Management of Asthma: Guidelines for Stepped Care and Self-Monitoring.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Article
- Selection of Representative Questionnaire Items from the Asthma Control Test.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Article
- Post hoc analysis of initial treatments and control status in the INITIAL study: an observational study of newly diagnosed patients with asthma.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2020Observational
- Keep the cat, change the care pathway: A transformational approach to managing Fel d 1, the major cat allergen.Allergy · 2019Article
- Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Active Life with Asthma (Gr-ALMA) review: a descriptive methodological study.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Asthma impacts on workplace productivity in employed patients who are symptomatic despite background therapy: a multinational survey.Journal of asthma and allergy · 2019Article
- Prospective observational cohort study of symptom control prediction in paediatric asthma by using the Royal College of Physicians three questions.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2018Observational
- Article
- Protocol for a systematic review to identify and weight the indicators of risk of asthma exacerbations in children aged 5-12 years.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2017Article
- The GINA asthma strategy report: what's new for primary care?NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2015Review
- Details of development of the resource for adults with asthma in the RAISIN (randomized trial of an asthma internet self-management intervention) study.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2015Article
- Assessment of the safety of long-acting β2-agonists in routine asthma care: the ASTRO-LAB protocol.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2015Review
- Performance of a brief asthma control screening tool in community pharmacy: a cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal analysis.Primary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group · 2014Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAnnual recording of the Royal College of Physicians three questions (RCP3Q) morbidity score is rewarded within the UK 'pay-for-performance' Quality and Outcomes Framework.
aimsTo investigate the performance of the RCP3Qs for assessing control in real-life practice compared with the validated Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) administered by self-completed questionnaire.
methodsWe compared the RCP3Q score extracted from a patient's computerised medical record with the ACQ self-completed after the consultation. The anonymous data were paired by practice, age, sex, and dates of completion. We calculated the sensitivity and specificity of the RCP3Q scale compared with the threshold for good/poor asthma control (ACQ ≥1).
resultsOf 291 ACQ questionnaires returned from 12 participating practices, 129 could be paired with complete RCP3Q data. Twenty-five of 27 patients who scored zero on the RCP3Q were well controlled (ACQ <1). An RCP3Q score ≥1 predicted inadequate control (ACQ ≥1) with a sensitivity of 0.96 and specificity of 0.34. Comparable values for RCP3Q≥2 were sensitivity 0.50 and specificity 0.94. The intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.13 indicated substantial variability between practices. Exacerbations and use of reliever inhalers were moderately correlated with ACQ (Spearman's rho 0.3 and 0.35) and may reflect different aspects of control.
conclusionsIn routine practice, an RCP3Q score of zero indicates good asthma control and a score of 2 or 3 indicates poor control. An RCP3Q score of 1 has good sensitivity but poor specificity for suboptimal control and should provoke further enquiry and consideration of other aspects of control such as exacerbations and use of reliever inhalers.
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