| Impairment |
| Symptoms | ≤ 2 days per week | > 2 days per week | Throughout the day |
| Nighttime awakenings | ≤ 2 times per month | 1 to 3 times per week | ≥ 4 times per week |
| Interference with normal activity | None | Some limitation | Extremely limited |
| Short-acting beta agonist use for symptom control (not for prevention of exercise-induced bronchospasm) | ≤ 2 days per week | > 2 days per week | Several times per day |
| FEV1 or peak flow | > 80 percent of predicted/personal best | 60 to 80 percent of predicted/personal best | < 60 percent of predicted/personal best |
| Validated questionnaires |
| ATAQ | 0 | 1 to 2 | 3 to 4 |
| ACQ | ≤ 0.75† | ≥ 1.5 | — |
| ACT | ≥ 20 | 16 to 19 | ≤ 15 |
| Risk |
| Exacerbations requiring oral systemic corticosteroids | 0 to 1 time per year‡ | ≥ 2 times per year‡ | ≥ 2 times per year‡ |
| Consider severity and interval since last exacerbation |
| Progressive loss of lung function | Evaluation requires long-term follow-up care |
| Treatment-related adverse effects | Medication adverse effects can vary in intensity from none to very troublesome and worrisome; the level of intensity does not correlate to specific levels of control, but should be considered in the overall assessment of risk |
| Recommended action for treatment (see Figure 1 for treatment steps) | Well controlled: Maintain current step; regular follow-up every one to six months to maintain control; consider step down if well controlled for at least three months | Not well controlled: Step up one step and reevaluate in two to six weeks; for adverse effects, consider alternative treatment options | Very poorly controlled: Consider short course of oral systemic corticosteroids; step up one to two steps, and reevaluate in two weeks; for adverse effects, consider alternative treatment options |