Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2011 Apr;139(4):832-838.
doi: 10.1378/chest.10-2388. Epub 2010 Dec 23.

Descriptors of breathlessness in children with persistent asthma

Andrew Harver  1 , Richard M Schwartzstein  2 , Harry Kotses  3 , C Thomas Humphries  4 , Karen B Schmaling  5 , Melanie Lee Mullin  5
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Descriptors of breathlessness in children with persistent asthma

Andrew Harver et al. Chest. 2011 Apr.

Abstract

Background: In adult patients, the consistent use of language to describe dyspnea enhances patient-provider communication and contributes to diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. The objective of this research was to determine whether pediatric patients similarly display consistency in the language used to describe "uncomfortable awareness of breathing."

Methods: One hundred children between the ages of 8 and 15 years with moderate to severe persistent asthma enrolled in an asthma education research program completed questionnaires regarding descriptors of asthma on each of two occasions. In addition to the breathlessness questionnaires, demographic information, self-reported asthma severity, ED visits, missed school days, anthropometrics, and spirometry were obtained for each participant.

Results: Children were reliable in their choice of the descriptors that they applied to their breathing discomfort across two occasions, and they selected the same descriptors that were used by adults with asthma in previous studies. Children with greater self-reported asthma severity endorsed more descriptors to characterize breathing discomfort than did children with less severe asthma, but no differences were found among children based on demographic or anthropometric variables.

Conclusions: Children with moderate to severe persistent asthma are reliable in their choice of descriptors of breathlessness. Knowledge of their experience of symptoms may be helpful clinically in the assessment and management of asthma.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. American Thoracic Society Dyspnea. Mechanisms, assessment and management: a consensus statement. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1999;159(1):321–340. - PubMed
    1. Mahler DA, Fierro-Carrion G, Baird JC. Evaluation of dyspnea in the elderly. Clin Geriatr Med. 2003;19(1):19–33. - PubMed
    1. Harver A, Mahler DA. The symptom of dyspnea. In: Mahler DA, editor. Dyspnea. Mount Kisco, NY: Futura Publishing; 1990. pp. 1–53.
    1. Harver A, Mahler DA. Dyspnea: Sensation, symptom, and illness. In: Mahler DA, editor. Dyspnea. NY: Marcel Dekker; 1998. pp. 1–34.
    1. Simon PM, Schwartzstein RM, Weiss JW, et al. Distinguishable sensations of breathlessness induced in normal volunteers. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1989;140(4):1021–1027. - PubMed

Publication types