CAAT & CAT Tests

The Chronic Airways Assessment Test (CAAT) and COPD Assessment Test (CAT)

CAAT^TM and CAT^TM are the names for an 8-item questionnaire designed to assess the impact of disease on a person’s life (health status).

The patient-completed questionnaire can be delivered in paper format or digitally. It covers symptoms such as cough, phlegm, chest tightness and breathlessness, and disease impacts, including physical activity, confidence, sleep, and energy.

• The CAT was developed by a multi-disciplinary group of international experts in COPD supported by GSK, and it is available to patients and healthcare providers in multiple languages at the website https://www.catestonline.org/.
  
  • The CAT has been used as a tool that helps patients and providers have a meaningful conversation when discussing the disease.
  • The CAT was also used by researchers in observational and interventional clinical trials to support the development of new treatment approaches.
  • Researchers can obtain access to the CAT (free to academic researchers and nonprofits) at https://eprovide.mapi-trust.org/instruments/copd-assessment-test.
  • In addition to its use in COPD, the CAT has been used in studies in people with asthma, bronchiectasis, and interstitial lung disease (ILD). Those studies demonstrate the potential for the CAT as a tool for use in other lung conditions.
    
• The CAAT is the same questionnaire as the CAT, with an adaptation of the introductory sentence referring to “chronic airway disease” instead of COPD to permit its application to other conditions.
  • Psychometric validation of CAAT in asthma and COPD was performed using data from the NOVELTY study¹ funded by AstraZeneca.
  • In addition to being a potential tool for clinical trials in diseases beyond COPD, for which the CAT was developed, the CAAT has the potential to be a tool used by patients living with multiple lung conditions and healthcare providers to have a conversation about their health status.
  • For application in clinical trials (free for academic researchers and nonprofits), please apply here
    https://eprovide.mapi-trust.org/instruments/chronic-airways-assessment-test

If you are a person with COPD or asthma (or a caregiver):

The CAAT is a tool to improve conversations with your healthcare provider and help them better understand your symptoms and condition. This enables them to better support you and treat your COPD or asthma (shared decision-making).

To use the CAAT, either:

1. Print the PDF linked below and fill in an answer to each question. Then, show the finished form to your healthcare provider during your next visit or conversation:

Patients and providers may request access to CAAT translations in by emailing us at info@gaapp.org.

2. Complete an online version of the CAT at https://www.catestonline.org/ where you can select your preferred language.
   The CAT score and what it means to you and your provider will be the same as the CAAT score. This site offers translations of the tool into many languages and will also score your total responses. You can then print a copy to discuss with your healthcare provider during your next visit or conversation.

The CAAT or CAT scores can only be interpreted with support from qualified healthcare personnel (your doctor, nurse or respiratory therapist)
Your healthcare provider may ask you to complete the CAAT more than once to gain a better understanding of your symptoms over time.

The CAAT Governance Board (GB):

Our mission is to make the CAAT available to a global audience of patients, families, and healthcare providers. The Global Allergy and Airways Patient Platform (GAAPP), a global umbrella nonprofit comprised of multiple patient advocacy organizations, assumed the operational lead for the GB in November 2023.  This GB replaced the CAT governance board that was formed in 2007, managed by GSK until 2020, and then the COPD Foundation until November 2023.

The GB will focus on ensuring the CAAT scientific integrity and development strategy while working with an international Scientific Committee chaired by a GAAPP member organization (on a rotating basis) focused on validation, dissemination, translations, and implementation of the CAAT in different lung conditions.

• Dr. Ruth Tal-Singer, Board Operations Chair
  Chief Scientific Officer (Volunteer)
  GAAPP, Vienna Austria
  
• Professor Paul Jones, Foundation Chair
  St George’s University of London, UK
  GSK Scientific lead (consultant)
  
• Professor Claus Vogelmeier, GOLD Scientific Committee Chair
  Research Leader at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research,
  Department of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University Medical Center Giessen and Marburg, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany
  Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL)
  
• Professor Helen Reddel, GINA Scientific Committee Chair
  Research Leader at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia|
  
• Professor James Chalmers, The European Multicenter Bronchiectasis Audit and Research Collaboration (EMBARC)
  Asthma and Lung UK Chair of Respiratory Research
  School of Medicine, University of Dundee, UK
  GAAPP Scientific and Medical Advisory Panel
  
• Professor Toru Oga, Academic Research user Asia Pacific
  Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama 701-0192, Japan
  
• Dr. Bruce Miller, CAAT Scientific Committee Chair
  Chief Scientific Officer
  COPD Foundation, Miami, FL, USA

Note: The International multidisciplinary membership of the CAAT Governance Board Scientific Committee will be announced soon

Using the CAAT and CAT in healthcare systems

CAAT References

1. Tomaszewski EL, Atkinson MJ, Janson C, Karlsson N, Make B, Price D, Reddel HK, Vogelmeier CF, Müllerová H, Jones PW; NOVELTY Scientific Community; NOVELTY study investigators. Chronic Airways Assessment Test: psychometric properties in patients with asthma and/or COPD. Respir Res. 2023 Apr 8;24(1):106 (Full text article)