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


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

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Using an approach called "cluster analysis," investigators are able to determine whether the descriptors form one or more groups in which the members of a group are more similar to each other than to descriptors in another group (Simon et al., 1989, 1990; Elliott et al., 1991). Some phrases tend to be selected together, others are rarely grouped. Relationships can then be determined between clusters and particular conditions that produce dyspnea.

Table 4.3: Groupings of phrases chosen from a dyspnea questionnaire to characterize their breathing discomfort by 53 patients with a range of hysiologic and pathologic conditions leading to dyspnea.
Clusters*
Cluster Name	Descriptive Phrase
1. In	My breath does not go in all the way.
2. Deep	I cannot take a deep breath.
3. Stops	I feel that my breath stops.
4. Gasping	I am gasping for breath.
5. Rapid	I feel that my breathing is rapid.
6. More	I feel that I am breathing more.
7. Exhalation	My breath does not go out all the way.
8. Concentration	My breathing requires more concentration.
9. Suffocating	I feel that I am smothering. I feel that I am suffocating.
10. Hunger	I feel a hunger for more air. I feel out of breath. I cannot get enough air.
11. Heavy	My breathing requires effort. My breathing is heavy.
12. Effort	My breathing requires effort. I feel out of breath. My breathing requires more work.
13. Tight	My chest feels tight. My chest is constricted.
14. Shallow	My breathing requires more work. My breathing is shallow.
* K = 2 (degree of overlap) and q = 0.811 (similarity level)
Official journal of the American Thoracic Society. © American Lung Association. Reprinted with permission.


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