AQUA^© Questionnaire as prediction tool for atopy in young elite athletes

Early-onset airway damage in early-career elite athletes: A risk factor for exercise-induced bronchoconstriction

“…Therefore, one of the goals of this research was to define risk factors and/or biomarkers that might predict EIB with high sensitivity and to screen early-career athletes from different sport disciplines who might be more susceptible to have EIB. Therefore, we looked at the atopic state (determined via skin prick test) and the AQUA score 9 of our athletes and correlated these with maximal fall in FEV 1 and EIB status. In our cohort of early-career elite athletes, being atopic or having an AQUA score of 6 or more on its own does not indicate the presence of EIB.…”

Validity and repeatability of the Pediatric Allergy Questionnaire for Athletes (AQUAped) for the screening of atopy

“…The assessment of questionnaire repeatability may be seen as the main strength of this study since it was not performed in the previous validation studies. 2,9 Another strength of this study is the as- SPTs have been considered a major diagnostic tool in the field of allergy. 15,16 Though the presence of a positive SPT with no correlative allergic symptoms is a common finding, up to 60% of asymptomatic subjects with positive SPTs will develop clinical symptoms of allergy.…”

“…Consistently with the aforementioned studies, 2,9 each core item was scored based on its likelihood ratios (LR), using the atopic status (defined by the SPT results) as the gold standard. In particular, the logarithms of LR+ and LR− were used to score, respectively, the positive and the negative answers (see the online for the rationale), while the item scores were set to 0 if the p‐value of the Fisher's exact test for association with atopy was larger than 0.20.…”

“…Allergic sensitization and allergic diseases have been reported to have a high prevalence in athletes 1 . A recent study 2 showed the presence of atopy in 35.7% of elite athletes aged 12‐14 years, significantly higher than in the general adolescent population in Europe (15%‐20%) 3…”

Feasibility of the Allergy Questionnaire for Athletes (AQUA©) in pediatric age

“…To the Editor, A burden of respiratory and allergic symptoms up to almost 60% has been observed in young and adult athletes, influencing physical performances. 1 The Allergy Questionnaire for Athletes (AQUA © ) is a validated screening tool for the prediction of the atopic status in adult athletes 2 ; it was recently tested in Belgian young elite athletes (12-14 years old), 3 but its actual feasibility and suitability for children and adolescents were not evaluated. Indeed, there is evidence that children are prone to employ "satisficing" response strategies, answering every question positively/negatively, or simply not answering.…”