CLINICAL TRIAL
COMPARATIVE STUDY
JOURNAL ARTICLE
RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL
RESEARCH SUPPORT, NON-U.S. GOV'T
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Limits of the HEDIS criteria in determining asthma severity for children.

Pediatrics 2004 October
OBJECTIVE: Although the Health Plan Employer Data Information Set (HEDIS) is a common method for evaluating the quality of asthma care, its accuracy in characterizing persistent asthma in children is unknown. The objective of this study was to compare the assessment of asthma severity (persistent vs nonpersistent asthma) using the HEDIS criteria versus clinical criteria using National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) guidelines.

METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, we analyzed baseline data from interviews with the parents of 896 children who had asthma and participated in a randomized controlled trial. Patients had an active clinical diagnosis of asthma, were between 2 and 12 years of age, and had no other pulmonary diseases. Patients had persistent asthma by parent report according to the HEDIS criteria when, within the last year, they had 1 asthma inpatient admission or emergency department visit or 4 asthma medication dispensing events, or 4 outpatient asthma visits and at least 2 asthma medication dispensing events. Patients had persistent asthma by parent report according to the NHLBI criteria when, within the last 2 months, they had nighttime asthma symptoms >2 nights/mo or daytime asthma symptoms >2 days/wk. We calculated the sensitivity of each HEDIS criterion, separately and then combined, using the NHLBI criteria as a gold standard.

RESULTS: On the basis of HEDIS criteria, 656 (73%) patients had persistent asthma, compared with 338 (38%) using NHLBI criteria. Although the HEDIS criteria for persistent asthma were fairly sensitive (0.89), they were not very specific (0.70). For children without daily controller medications (n = 346), the sensitivity was even lower (0.45), but the specificity was similar (0.68). We found that the test characteristics were fairly consistent across different age group strata (2-4, 5-9, and 10-12 years of age).

CONCLUSIONS: HEDIS criteria used to determine the quality of asthma care should be interpreted with caution. Although the criteria for persistent disease-used to determine which children require daily controller medications-are fairly sensitive, they are not very specific and include children who may not require such medications.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app