OBJECTIVES: Measurements of the patient health status should be simple and concise in clinical practice. The Asthma Bother Profile (ABP), which consists of 23 items, has been developed to assess how much asthma bothers patients. The Airway Questionnaire 20 (AQ20) is a simple instrument which consists of 20 items regarding the health status of asthma and COPD patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the ABP and AQ20 evaluate the health status of patients with asthma, and to examine the relationships between these two measures and clinical parameters, generic and asthma-specific instruments. METHODS: A total of 193 patients with chronic asthma (age: 48±8yr, 95 males) completed a pulmonary function testing, a measurement of airway hyperresponsiveness, the dyspnea rating (MRC; Medical Research Council dyspnea scale), and assessments of the anxiety and depression (HADS; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and assessments of their health status. The health status was assessed using the ABP, AQ20, SF-36, Living with Asthma Questionnaire (LWAQ) and the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ). The Japanese version of the ABP included only 15 items out of the original 23 items due to cultural differences. RESULTS: The score distributions on the ABP and AQ20 were skewed towards the mild end of the scale (median score [interquartile range]: 2 [1-4] and 13 [6-22], respectively). Moderate correlations were noted between the Anxiety on the HADS and the ABP and AQ20 scores (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient [Rs] = 0.44 and 0.62 respectively). The ABP had a strong correlation with the LWAQ (Rs = 0.81), and its strongest correlation with the General Health (Rs = -0.64) among the 8 subscales on the SF-36. The AQ20 had a moderate correlation with the LWAQ (Rs = 0.61). The FEV1, peak expiratory flow rates, degree of airway hyperresponsiveness and treatment steps of asthma showed mild correlations with the ABP and AQ20 (Rs = 0.20 - 0.26). CONCLUSIONS: The ABP and AQ20 were short and simple to complete, and both measures could easily be used in clinical practice. The ABP can evaluate patients more specifically with respect to the distress and bother induced by asthma than the AQ20.