AE-C Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: D

1. Change in FEV1 = 1.78 L − 1.60 L = 0.18 L = 180 mL.
2. Percent change = 0.18 ÷ 1.60 × 100 = 11.25%, about 11%.
3. A significant bronchodilator response needs both ≥12% and ≥200 mL; neither is met.
4. Post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC 0.60 remains reduced → persistent airflow limitation consistent with asthma–COPD overlap features.

"The bronchodilator response is significant, which confirms the problem is asthma alone.": The increase is 180 mL and 11%, below the 12% and 200 mL threshold, so it is not a significant response.

"Your ratio after the bronchodilator is normal, so smoking has not affected your airways.": A post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC of 0.60 is reduced and shows persistent airflow limitation.

"Because the airways barely opened, inhaled medicines will no longer help you and can be stopped.": Limited reversibility does not mean inhaled therapy is ineffective; treatment decisions belong to the clinician.

"Your airflow stays limited after the inhaler, which can happen when asthma and COPD features overlap.": Correct — the FEV1 rose by only 180 mL (11%) and the post-bronchodilator ratio stays low; persistent airflow limitation in a long-term smoker with asthma suggests overlapping COPD features, which the clinician will use in treatment planning.

A significant bronchodilator response is an FEV1 rise of at least 12% and 200 mL from baseline; persistent post-bronchodilator obstruction in a smoker with asthma suggests overlapping COPD.

Answer: B

Reteach albuterol technique and timing so it is taken 15 minutes before each race.: Proper timing helps exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, but her features do not fit EIB and the pattern needs clinician review.

Share these findings with her clinician, because they suggest a laryngeal cause rather than asthma.: Correct — throat tightness, inspiratory noise, rapid onset and resolution, no response to albuterol and normal spirometry suggest inducible laryngeal obstruction (vocal cord dysfunction), which needs clinician evaluation.

Encourage better daily controller adherence, since poorly controlled asthma often causes throat tightness.: Poor asthma control causes lower-airway symptoms such as expiratory wheeze and cough, not inspiratory throat tightness.

Teach pursed-lip breathing to use during races whenever the throat tightness starts.: Breathing techniques may later be taught by a specialist, but the first priority is communicating that the presentation suggests a mimic.

Inducible laryngeal obstruction (vocal cord dysfunction) mimics asthma: inspiratory symptoms, throat tightness and poor response to bronchodilators should prompt referral back to the clinician.

Answer: D

"Yes. Control is judged by how you feel now and by your lung function, and both of those are good.": Ignores the risk domain; current impairment is only half of the control assessment.

"No. Two steroid bursts in one year mean your asthma is now classified as severe persistent asthma instead.": Confuses control with severity; exacerbation history alone does not make the asthma severe persistent.

"Yes. Exacerbations count toward control only if they lead to a hospital admission or an ICU stay.": Exacerbations requiring oral corticosteroids count in the risk domain whether or not the person is admitted.

"Your daily symptoms look good, but two steroid bursts raise your risk, so it is not well controlled.": Correct — for ages 12 and older, two or more exacerbations requiring oral corticosteroids in a year place asthma in the "not well controlled" category through the risk domain, even when impairment is minimal.

Control has two domains: impairment (symptoms, SABA use, lung function, activity) and risk (exacerbations, loss of lung function, treatment side effects); either can make asthma not well controlled.

Answer: C

Give her a detailed brochure about action plans to read at home later with her glasses on.: More written material does not help if reading is the barrier.

Repeat the explanation more slowly and ask again whether she understands.: Slowing down helps, but asking "Do you understand?" again will likely get the same unreliable "yes."

Use plain language and a pictorial plan, and have her explain each zone in her own words.: Correct — her responses suggest limited health literacy; plain language, pictures and teach-back confirm understanding without relying on reading.

Ask a family member to take responsibility for following her action plan.: Involving family can help, but it should not replace building her own understanding and skills.

Signs such as "forgot my glasses" and vague answers can signal limited health literacy; use plain language, pictures and teach-back for every person.

Answer: B

1. Record the highest of three acceptable efforts: 260 L/min.
2. 260 ÷ 400 × 100 = 65% of personal best.
3. Zones: green 80–100%, yellow 50–79%, red below 50% → yellow zone.

35% of personal best (red zone): This is the percentage drop: (400 − 260) ÷ 400 = 35%, not the reading as a percentage of personal best.

65% of personal best (yellow zone): Correct — record the highest of three good efforts (260 L/min); 260 ÷ 400 = 65%, which is in the yellow zone (50–79%).

81% of personal best (green zone): Uses the predicted value (260 ÷ 320) instead of his personal best.

154% of personal best (green zone): Inverts the ratio (400 ÷ 260).

Record the highest of three good PEF efforts and compare it with the person's own personal best, not the predicted value.

Answer: D

Reassure her that her asthma is controlled because she has had no symptoms or reliever use.: Ignores five readings of 255–270 L/min (64–68% of personal best), which are in the yellow zone.

Advise her to replace the meter, because the low readings do not match how she feels.: Her technique is correct and the other readings are consistent; the meter is not the likely problem.

Advise her to use albuterol only on days when she notices chest tightness or cough.: Relying on symptoms is the very problem for a person who does not perceive airflow obstruction.

Explain that she may not feel her airways narrowing and teach her to act on her PEF zones.: Correct — repeated yellow-zone readings without symptoms suggest she is a poor perceiver; she should act on objective PEF zones in her plan, and the pattern should be shared with her clinician.

Poor perceivers of airflow obstruction are at high risk; daily PEF monitoring and acting on PEF zones rather than symptoms alone are recommended for them.

Answer: C

Give her a dose calendar that lists fixed 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. doses every day.: Fixed clock times are exactly what fail on a rotating schedule; the plan must fit her changing routine.

Ask her clinician to switch her to as-needed controller use on work days.: Changing the regimen is a clinician decision and is not the first step when the barrier is timing; it would also leave her undertreated on work days.

Link each dose to her wake-up and pre-sleep routines, whatever the clock time.: Correct — she has the knowledge and skills; the barrier is a schedule that keeps changing. Anchoring doses to her own wake and sleep routines tailors the plan to her life and works on any shift.

Review why the controller matters, since missed doses show a knowledge gap.: She already explains her plan correctly; the missed doses come from her schedule, not from a knowledge gap.

Tailor self-management to the person's real routine: when knowledge and technique are good, adherence barriers such as shift work are solved by anchoring doses to daily habits rather than to clock times.

Answer: B

1. A different meter model needs a new personal best measured on that meter.
2. Use the highest valid reading during good control: 470 L/min (exclude the 520 L/min cough effort).
3. Green zone starts at 80%: 0.80 × 470 = 376 L/min.

352 L/min: This is 80% of the mean; the personal best is the highest valid reading, not the average.

376 L/min: Correct. The new meter needs its own personal best: the highest valid reading, 470 L/min. 0.80 × 470 = 376 L/min.

384 L/min: This is 80% of the old-meter best; readings differ between meter models, so the best must be re-established.

416 L/min: This is 80% of the 520 L/min reading, which is invalid because she coughed during the effort.

Re-establish the personal best whenever the meter changes, using the highest valid reading over 2–3 weeks of good control, then recalculate the zones.

Answer: C

Teach the plan as written, since formoterol starts working as fast as albuterol.: Formoterol does have a rapid onset, but NAEPP 2020 advises against using ICS-formoterol as a reliever with ICS-salmeterol maintenance.

Tell him to use albuterol in the yellow zone until the plan is rewritten.: Substituting a different reliever changes the prescription; the educator clarifies with the clinician instead.

Contact the clinician to clarify the reliever before teaching the yellow zone.: Correct. NAEPP 2020 states that ICS-formoterol should not be used as a reliever by someone taking ICS-salmeterol maintenance. The educator clarifies the instruction with the prescriber before teaching it.

Tell him to use budesonide-formoterol for both maintenance and relief instead.: Single maintenance and reliever therapy may be what the clinician intended, but switching regimens is a prescribing decision.

When a plan contains an unsafe or unclear combination, the educator clarifies with the clinician before teaching; NAEPP 2020 advises against an ICS-formoterol reliever with ICS-salmeterol maintenance.

Answer: A

"Would you be willing to talk about what smoking gives you and costs your breathing?": Correct. She is not ready to change, so a motivational interviewing approach fits: ask permission, explore her own pros and cons, and link smoking to her asthma. This keeps the topic open without a lecture.

"Let's pick a quit date in the next two weeks so we can plan around it.": Setting a quit date suits someone preparing to quit; for a person who is not ready it is premature and invites resistance.

"I'll ask your doctor for nicotine patches so you have them when you're ready.": Medication support belongs with a quit attempt she has chosen; offering it now skips the step of building motivation.

"Since you're not ready, we'll leave smoking aside and focus on your inhaler.": Respecting her wishes matters, but dropping the topic misses a brief intervention; tobacco use should be addressed at every visit.

Match the approach to readiness: for a smoker not ready to quit, use motivational interviewing (permission, open questions, personal pros and cons) and revisit at every visit.

Answer: A

His symptom-driven albuterol use and night waking point to asthma that is not well controlled.: Correct. Pre-exercise doses are not counted, but albuterol for symptoms on 3 days a week (more than 2) and night waking about 4 times a month both indicate asthma that is not well controlled, so the clinician needs to reassess.

His albuterol use is acceptable, because doses taken before exercise do not count toward control.: Pre-exercise doses are excluded, but the 3 days of symptom-driven use are not, and those alone exceed 2 days a week.

His pattern fits exercise-induced bronchoconstriction alone, so pretreatment can simply continue.: This accepts the mother's framing; symptoms at rest and at night are not explained by EIB alone.

His control cannot be judged until spirometry is done, because symptom reports are unreliable.: Spirometry adds information, but symptom frequency and SABA use are standard impairment measures and already show poor control.

When judging control, leave out SABA taken to prevent EIB, but count every symptom-driven dose; more than 2 days a week, or night waking 1–3 times a week in ages 12+, means not well controlled.

Answer: C

a different dry powder inhaler: Any DPI depends on adequate inspiratory flow, which she cannot generate.

a soft-mist inhaler: A soft-mist inhaler needs a slow breath, but it must be twisted to load each dose, which her arthritis prevents.

a nebulizer with a mouthpiece or mask: Correct — a nebulizer needs neither hand strength nor a forceful inhalation, and her daughter can set it up; it suits older adults who cannot use handheld devices.

a pMDI used without a spacer: A pMDI needs hand strength to press the canister and good coordination without a spacer.

Choose the device by the person's abilities: DPIs need adequate inspiratory flow, pMDIs and soft-mist inhalers need hand function, and nebulizers need neither.

Answer: B

1. Maintenance = 2 inhalations × 2 times a day = 4 inhalations.
2. NAEPP 2020 maximum for ages 12+ = 12 inhalations per day in total (54 mcg formoterol).
3. Reliever inhalations available = 12 − 4 = 8.
4. If she needs more, she should follow her plan and contact her clinician.

4 inhalations: Assumes reliever use cannot exceed her daily maintenance amount; the limit is set by the total daily maximum.

8 inhalations: Correct — for ages 12 and older the total daily maximum is 12 inhalations (54 mcg formoterol); 12 − 4 maintenance inhalations = 8 reliever inhalations.

12 inhalations: Treats the 12-inhalation total daily maximum as a reliever-only limit, ignoring the 4 maintenance inhalations.

16 inhalations: Adds 12 reliever inhalations on top of maintenance; 12 is the total daily maximum, not an add-on.

With SMART, maintenance and reliever doses of ICS-formoterol count toward one daily maximum: 12 inhalations for ages 12 and older and 8 for ages 5–11.

Answer: D

End the program, since its main outcome measure did not change.: Process gains and low uptake of one component suggest a fixable problem, not failure of the whole program.

Add more classroom sessions on knowledge, since scores rose.: Knowledge is already improving; the gap is in the home-trigger component.

Change the outcome measure to knowledge scores, which improved.: Changing the measure to fit the results hides the problem rather than fixing it.

Find out why families skip the home visit and address the barriers.: Correct. The component that targets home triggers reached few families, which may explain the flat ED visits. Learning the barriers and modifying delivery uses the findings to improve impact.

Use evaluation findings to diagnose weak components and modify the program, rather than ending it or changing the measures.

Answer: D

1. Rate = ED visits ÷ children with asthma × 1,000.
2. Northside 84 ÷ 1,200 × 1,000 = 70; Riverside 36 ÷ 400 × 1,000 = 90.
3. Southgate 120 ÷ 2,000 × 1,000 = 60; Westfield 55 ÷ 500 × 1,000 = 110.
4. Westfield has the highest rate, so it is the priority.

Northside: Northside has the second-highest count but a rate of only 70 per 1,000.

Riverside: Riverside’s rate is 90 per 1,000, second-highest but below Westfield’s.

Southgate: Southgate has the most visits (120) only because it has the most children; its rate is the lowest, 60 per 1,000.

Westfield: Correct. Westfield has the highest rate: 55 ÷ 500 × 1,000 = 110 ED visits per 1,000 children with asthma.

Compare populations by rates, not raw counts: a large neighborhood can have the most events but the lowest rate.