Development of Self‐Administered Versions of Modified Baseline and Transition Dyspnea Indexes in COPD

Abstract

In this study we developed self‐administered versions of modified baseline and transition dyspnea indexes and compared the scores obtained by this method with the mean value obtained by two trained interviewers. Twenty‐five patients (14 males/11 females) with chronic obstructive disease who had a chief complaint of “breathlessness” were tested. Age was 66 ± 11 years; forced expiratory volume in one second was 48 ± 23% predicted. The baseline total scores were 5.0 ± 1.8 for the interviewers and 5.4 ± 2.0 for the self‐administered method. For the baseline dyspnea scores the correlations were 0.83 (p < 0.0001) between self‐administration and the mean value of two interviewers and 0.75 (p < 0.0001) between the two interviewers. The transition total scores, obtained an average of 102 days (range, 7–377 days) later, were − 0.1 ± 3.0 for the interviewers and − 0.4 ± 3.0 for the self‐administered method. For the transition dyspnea scores the correlations were 0.94 (p < 0.0001) between self‐administration and the mean value of two interviewers and 0.83 (p < 0.0001) between the two interviewers. The self‐administered dyspnea scores had similar correlations with measures of lung function as did the interview dyspnea scores. We conclude that self‐administered versions of the modified baseline and transition dyspnea indexes provide comparable scores as those obtained by trained and experienced interviewers. The advantages of the self‐administered versions include standardized methodology and computerized scoring.