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Clinical Research on Dyspnea
Author Bios
What is Dyspnea?
What Provokes Dyspnea?
The Nature of Dyspnea
Currently selected section: Language of Dyspnea
Clinical Application
Research Application
Variability in Sensations
Challenges in Study
Mechanical Loads and Sense of Effort
Chemoreceptors
Mechanoreceptors
Neuro-Mechanical Dissociation
Phase of Respiration and Dyspnea
Physiology of Dyspnea
Respiratory System
Cardiovascular System
Measuring Dyspnea
Scaling Issues
Qualitative Aspects
Reliability and Validity Overview
Reliability and Validity
Sensitivity and Specificity
Scales
Sensation vs. Perception vs. Symptom
Treating Dyspnea
Why Measure?
Cluster Analysis
Statistical vs. Clinical Significance
Standard Error of Measurement
Measuring Fatigue
Measuring Depression
Measuring Anxiety and Hyperventilation
Measuring Quality of Life
Conclusion

 

Chapter 23: Assessing Desirability of Outcome Stats: Language of Dyspnea
        

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Unlike pain, dyspnea is not commonly experienced by healthy people during the course of their lives unless they exercise vigorously. Consequently, neither the patient nor the physician interviewing the patient has a vocabulary upon which to draw when a pathologic condition develops that produces breathing discomfort that seems different than typical exercise. To address this problem "dyspnea questionnaires" have been developed to assist the patient. These questionnaires consist of the following list of phrases culled from normal subjects made breathless when given a variety of respiratory tasks (Simon et al., 1989) and from interviews of patients with a range of cardiopulmonary disorders (Simon et al., 1990; Elliott et al., 1991).

Table 4.2: Example of a List of Descriptiors Utilized in Dyspnea Questionnaires
List of Descriptors
  1. My breath does not go in all the way.
  2. My breathing requires effort.
  3. I feel that I am smothering.
  4. I feel a hunger for more air.
  5. My breathing is heavy.
  6. I can not take a deep breath.
  7. I feel out of breath.
  8. My chest feels tight.
  9. My breathing requires more work.
  10. I feel that I am suffocating.
  11. I feel that my breath stops.
  12. I am gasping for breath.
  13. My chest is constricted.
  14. I feel that my breathing is rapid.
  15. My breathing is shallow.
  16. I feel that I am breathing more.
  17. I can not get enough air.
  18. My breath does not go out all the way.
  19. My breathing requires more concentration.
Official journal of the American Thoracic Society. © American Lung Association. Reprinted with permission.

 

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