Abstract

Objectives

This study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of a newly developed Asthma Numeracy Test (ANT) and to make it available in Arabic.

Methods

Patients with asthma who were ≥18 years were seen in 3 outpatient primary care or respiratory medicine clinics in the United Arab Emirates. They completed the ANT of 10 questions assessing participant arithmetic computation, meaning of percentages, estimation, and problem solving. Each question was worth 1 point, giving a total score of 10. The ANT was forward and back translated to Arabic and English, respectively, by independent legal translators and piloted on 15 participants. Convergent validity was tested by comparing the ANT with the Asthma Knowledge Test (AKT) scores, knowledge of inhaled medications, and practical inhaler technique using Pearson’s correlation coefficients.

Results

The average ANT score achieved by 150 participants was 6.47 ± 2.09; 25% and 45% scored ≤4.0 and 6.0, respectively. Correlation between ANT and AKT and knowledge of inhaled medications were positive, r = .22 and r = .16, P .05, respectively. No correlation with participants’ practical inhaler technique was noted. ANT was positively associated with participant educational attainment and negatively with emergency room visits.

Conclusions

A new short and easy-to-administer test of asthma numeracy has been developed and found to be valid and reliable. It may be used to assess numeracy levels of patients with asthma and consequently develop and evaluate targeted interventions designed to improve patient care outcomes. The test is available in English and Arabic.