Practical dyspnea assessment: relationship between the 0–10 numerical rating scale and the four-level categorical verbal descriptor scale of dyspnea intensity
Context—Measurement of dyspnea is important for clinical care and research. Objectives—To characterize the relationship between the 0–10 Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and four-level categorical Verbal Descriptor Scale (VDS) for dyspnea assessment. Methods—This was a substudy of a double-blind rando...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48278/ |
| _version_ | 1848797730489499648 |
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| author | Wysham, Nicholas G. Miriovsky, Benjamin J. Currow, David C. Herndon, James E. Samsa, Gregory P. Wilcock, Andrew Abernethy, Amy P. |
| author_facet | Wysham, Nicholas G. Miriovsky, Benjamin J. Currow, David C. Herndon, James E. Samsa, Gregory P. Wilcock, Andrew Abernethy, Amy P. |
| author_sort | Wysham, Nicholas G. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Context—Measurement of dyspnea is important for clinical care and research.
Objectives—To characterize the relationship between the 0–10 Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and four-level categorical Verbal Descriptor Scale (VDS) for dyspnea assessment.
Methods—This was a substudy of a double-blind randomized controlled trial comparing palliative oxygen to room air for relief of refractory breathlessness in patients with life-limiting illness. Dyspnea was assessed with both a 0–10 NRS and a four-level categorical VDS over the one-week trial. NRS and VDS responses were analyzed in cross section and longitudinally. Relationships between NRS and VDS responses were portrayed using descriptive statistics and visual representations.
Results—Two hundred twenty-six participants contributed responses. At baseline, mild and moderate levels of breathlessness were reported by 41.9% and 44.6% of participants, respectively. NRS scores demonstrated increasing mean and median levels for increasing VDS intensity, from a mean (SD) of 0.6 (±1.04) for VDS none category to 8.2 (1.4) for VDS severe category. The Spearman correlation coefficient was strong at 0.78 (P < 0.0001). Based on the distribution of NRS scores within VDS categories, we calculated test characteristics of two different cutpoint models. Both models yielded 75% correct translations from NRS to VDS; however, Model A was more sensitive for moderate or greater dyspnea, with fewer misses downcoded.
Conclusion—There is strong correlation between VDS and NRS measures for dyspnea. Proposed practical cutpoints for the relationship between the dyspnea VDS and NRS are 0 for none, 1–4 for mild, 5–8 for moderate, and 9–10 for severe. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:08:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-48278 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:08:31Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-482782020-05-04T17:08:14Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48278/ Practical dyspnea assessment: relationship between the 0–10 numerical rating scale and the four-level categorical verbal descriptor scale of dyspnea intensity Wysham, Nicholas G. Miriovsky, Benjamin J. Currow, David C. Herndon, James E. Samsa, Gregory P. Wilcock, Andrew Abernethy, Amy P. Context—Measurement of dyspnea is important for clinical care and research. Objectives—To characterize the relationship between the 0–10 Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and four-level categorical Verbal Descriptor Scale (VDS) for dyspnea assessment. Methods—This was a substudy of a double-blind randomized controlled trial comparing palliative oxygen to room air for relief of refractory breathlessness in patients with life-limiting illness. Dyspnea was assessed with both a 0–10 NRS and a four-level categorical VDS over the one-week trial. NRS and VDS responses were analyzed in cross section and longitudinally. Relationships between NRS and VDS responses were portrayed using descriptive statistics and visual representations. Results—Two hundred twenty-six participants contributed responses. At baseline, mild and moderate levels of breathlessness were reported by 41.9% and 44.6% of participants, respectively. NRS scores demonstrated increasing mean and median levels for increasing VDS intensity, from a mean (SD) of 0.6 (±1.04) for VDS none category to 8.2 (1.4) for VDS severe category. The Spearman correlation coefficient was strong at 0.78 (P < 0.0001). Based on the distribution of NRS scores within VDS categories, we calculated test characteristics of two different cutpoint models. Both models yielded 75% correct translations from NRS to VDS; however, Model A was more sensitive for moderate or greater dyspnea, with fewer misses downcoded. Conclusion—There is strong correlation between VDS and NRS measures for dyspnea. Proposed practical cutpoints for the relationship between the dyspnea VDS and NRS are 0 for none, 1–4 for mild, 5–8 for moderate, and 9–10 for severe. Elsevier 2015-05-22 Article PeerReviewed Wysham, Nicholas G., Miriovsky, Benjamin J., Currow, David C., Herndon, James E., Samsa, Gregory P., Wilcock, Andrew and Abernethy, Amy P. (2015) Practical dyspnea assessment: relationship between the 0–10 numerical rating scale and the four-level categorical verbal descriptor scale of dyspnea intensity. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 50 (4). pp. 480-487. ISSN 1873-6513 Dyspnea; Numerical Rating Scale; Verbal Descriptor Scale http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885392415002377 doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2015.04.015 doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2015.04.015 |
| spellingShingle | Dyspnea; Numerical Rating Scale; Verbal Descriptor Scale Wysham, Nicholas G. Miriovsky, Benjamin J. Currow, David C. Herndon, James E. Samsa, Gregory P. Wilcock, Andrew Abernethy, Amy P. Practical dyspnea assessment: relationship between the 0–10 numerical rating scale and the four-level categorical verbal descriptor scale of dyspnea intensity |
| title | Practical dyspnea assessment: relationship between the 0–10 numerical rating scale and the four-level categorical verbal descriptor scale of dyspnea intensity |
| title_full | Practical dyspnea assessment: relationship between the 0–10 numerical rating scale and the four-level categorical verbal descriptor scale of dyspnea intensity |
| title_fullStr | Practical dyspnea assessment: relationship between the 0–10 numerical rating scale and the four-level categorical verbal descriptor scale of dyspnea intensity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Practical dyspnea assessment: relationship between the 0–10 numerical rating scale and the four-level categorical verbal descriptor scale of dyspnea intensity |
| title_short | Practical dyspnea assessment: relationship between the 0–10 numerical rating scale and the four-level categorical verbal descriptor scale of dyspnea intensity |
| title_sort | practical dyspnea assessment: relationship between the 0–10 numerical rating scale and the four-level categorical verbal descriptor scale of dyspnea intensity |
| topic | Dyspnea; Numerical Rating Scale; Verbal Descriptor Scale |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48278/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48278/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48278/ |