Pediatric Asthma Score (PAS)

Use in children aged 2-18 years with asthma exacerbation to guide inpatient medical management. Can also be applied in the emergency department. Should not be used to evaluate patients with significant comorbidities (e.g. sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis).The PAS was evaluated based on patients that had already received oral or IV steroids within 30 minutes of treatment initiation. Helpful in patients unwilling or unable to comply with peak expiratory flow measurement. May quantify severity of asthma, but cannot predict response to treatment prior to intervention. Good inter-observer agreement among physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists in an ED setting. Developed based on published guidelines of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program in an effort to improve outcomes.Asthma is the most common reason for hospital admission from the emergency department in children. When combined with a treatment protocol based on severity, the PAS has been shown to decrease length of stay, reduce costs, and improve quality of care.