The 2003 survey contained several other questions dealing with various aspects of asthma patient education. These covered whether persons with asthma had been given an asthma management plan by a doctor or other health professional (ASTHPLAN) and whether they had received professional advice on how to use an inhaler (ASTHINSHOW), on long-term asthma management (ASTHMANAGE), on recognizing early signs of an asthma episode (ASTHSIGNS), on responding to episodes of asthma (ASTHRESPOND), on monitoring peak flow for daily therapy (ASTHPEAK), and on changing things at home, school, or work to improve their asthma (ASTHCHEN).

In 1999, for sample children, interviewers asked, "Has anyone in the family ever taken a course or class on how to manage [person's] asthma?" Given this wording, an affirmative response could mean that the sample child took such a class, or that an adult family member took such a class to learn how to manage the child's asthma.

In 2003, for sample children, interviewers asked the same question that was used for sample adults, namely, "Has [person] ever taken a course or class on how to manage [his/her] asthma?" The survey form also directed interviewers to "include adult(s) who took a course for the child's asthma." In 2003, coded responses included "yes" and "no," as in 1999, along with a third category, "adult took class for child's asthma." This specification was dropped in 2008 and the question remains general, asking if someone, child or adult, "has taken a course or class on how to manage [his/her] asthma."

Both the simple "yes" category and the category "yes, adult took class for child's asthma" share a common first digit of "2." The additional information that it was an adult family member who took the class in the child's behalf is available in 2003 only, so this distinction is specified in the second digit (i.e., a code of "20" for "yes" and a code of "21" for "yes, adult took class for child's asthma"). To maximize comparability between the two years, all responses with a first digit of "2" should be combined.