The purpose of this study prospective was to validate an original questionnaire for acute dyspnea. A verbal questionnaire (DISCOVER) consisting of 13 items was firstly tested by interviewing 17 patients and then reduced to 5 items. The DISCOVER score is obtained by the sum of scores of the different items and can range from 0 (no dyspnea) to 20 (maximum level of dyspnea). The reproducibility of the questionnaire was analyzed in a group of 24 patients admitted to different wards. To test the validity, a total number of 75 patients (37 admitted to the respiratory and 38 to the surgical wards) were studied using the "construct validity" approach. The reproducibility of the questionnaire was excellent (weighted K = 0.981). Considering the validation, in the patients admitted to the respiratory ward, heart rate, respiratory rate and the DISCOVER score were significantly higher and SpO2 lower than in surgical patients. When the patients were grouped according to their SpO2, all the items and the DISCOVER were significantly different. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.906 in the group of patients where reproducibility was tested and 0.835 in the study group. DISCOVER exhibited good reproducibility and reliability, and was able to discriminate between two groups of patients. The significantly different DISCOVER score of patients with different SpO2 values demonstrated its ability to discriminate different respiratory impairment. A DISCOVER score of 4 can be a good cut-off point between patients with or without respiratory impairment.
Validation of a questionnaire for acute dyspnea
VOLTA, Carlo Alberto;GRASSI L;BUCCOLIERO, Cosimetta;ALVISI, Raffaele
2003
Abstract
The purpose of this study prospective was to validate an original questionnaire for acute dyspnea. A verbal questionnaire (DISCOVER) consisting of 13 items was firstly tested by interviewing 17 patients and then reduced to 5 items. The DISCOVER score is obtained by the sum of scores of the different items and can range from 0 (no dyspnea) to 20 (maximum level of dyspnea). The reproducibility of the questionnaire was analyzed in a group of 24 patients admitted to different wards. To test the validity, a total number of 75 patients (37 admitted to the respiratory and 38 to the surgical wards) were studied using the "construct validity" approach. The reproducibility of the questionnaire was excellent (weighted K = 0.981). Considering the validation, in the patients admitted to the respiratory ward, heart rate, respiratory rate and the DISCOVER score were significantly higher and SpO2 lower than in surgical patients. When the patients were grouped according to their SpO2, all the items and the DISCOVER were significantly different. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.906 in the group of patients where reproducibility was tested and 0.835 in the study group. DISCOVER exhibited good reproducibility and reliability, and was able to discriminate between two groups of patients. The significantly different DISCOVER score of patients with different SpO2 values demonstrated its ability to discriminate different respiratory impairment. A DISCOVER score of 4 can be a good cut-off point between patients with or without respiratory impairment.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
