Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile: an instrument for clinical and laboratory research
- PMID: 25792641
- PMCID: PMC4450151
- DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00038914
Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile: an instrument for clinical and laboratory research
Abstract
There is growing awareness that dyspnoea, like pain, is a multidimensional experience, but measurement instruments have not kept pace. The Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile (MDP) assesses overall breathing discomfort, sensory qualities, and emotional responses in laboratory and clinical settings. Here we provide the MDP, review published evidence regarding its measurement properties and discuss its use and interpretation. The MDP assesses dyspnoea during a specific time or a particular activity (focus period) and is designed to examine individual items that are theoretically aligned with separate mechanisms. In contrast, other multidimensional dyspnoea scales assess recalled recent dyspnoea over a period of days using aggregate scores. Previous psychophysical and psychometric studies using the MDP show that: 1) subjects exposed to different laboratory stimuli could discriminate between air hunger and work/effort sensation, and found air hunger more unpleasant; 2) the MDP immediate unpleasantness scale (A1) was convergent with common dyspnoea scales; 3) in emergency department patients, two domains were distinguished (immediate perception, emotional response); 4) test-retest reliability over hours was high; 5) the instrument responded to opioid treatment of experimental dyspnoea and to clinical improvement; 6) convergent validity with common instruments was good; and 7) items responded differently from one another as predicted for multiple dimensions.
Copyright ©ERS 2015.
Conflict of interest statement
Conflict of interest: Disclosures can be found alongside the online version of this article at
Figures

Comment in
-
Distilling the essence of breathlessness: the first vital symptom.Eur Respir J. 2015 Jun;45(6):1526-8. doi: 10.1183/09031936.00030115. Eur Respir J. 2015. PMID: 26028616 No abstract available.
Similar articles
-
Test-retest reliability of multidimensional dyspnea profile recall ratings in the emergency department: a prospective, longitudinal study.BMC Emerg Med. 2012 May 24;12:6. doi: 10.1186/1471-227X-12-6. BMC Emerg Med. 2012. PMID: 22624887 Free PMC article.
-
Validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile in outpatients with respiratory disease.Turk J Med Sci. 2020 Dec 17;50(8):1930-1940. doi: 10.3906/sag-2001-155. Turk J Med Sci. 2020. PMID: 32682356 Free PMC article.
-
Swedish translation and linguistic validation of the multidimensional dyspnoea profile.Eur Clin Respir J. 2016 Nov 8;3:32665. doi: 10.3402/ecrj.v3.32665. eCollection 2016. Eur Clin Respir J. 2016. PMID: 27834177 Free PMC article.
-
Multidimensional measurement of breathlessness: recent advances.Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2019 Sep;13(3):184-192. doi: 10.1097/SPC.0000000000000436. Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2019. PMID: 31145135 Review.
-
Measurement of dyspnoea.Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 2001 Feb;56(1):39-42. Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 2001. PMID: 11407208 Review.
Cited by
-
Danish translation and linguistic validation of the multidimensional dyspnea profile.Eur Clin Respir J. 2021 Mar 30;8(1):1905498. doi: 10.1080/20018525.2021.1905498. Eur Clin Respir J. 2021. PMID: 33854743 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
-
Validation of the Swedish Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile (MDP) in outpatients with cardiorespiratory disease.BMJ Open Respir Res. 2019 Sep 18;6(1):e000381. doi: 10.1136/bmjresp-2018-000381. eCollection 2019. BMJ Open Respir Res. 2019. PMID: 31681476 Free PMC article.
-
Experienced Respiratory Symptoms and the Impact on Daily Life from the Perspective of People with Parkinson's Disease: A Grounded Theory.J Parkinsons Dis. 2022;12(5):1677-1691. doi: 10.3233/JPD-213121. J Parkinsons Dis. 2022. PMID: 35634852 Free PMC article.
-
Feasibility of completing Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile and Dyspnea-12 over the telephone in patients with oxygen-dependent disease.BMJ Open Respir Res. 2021 Nov;8(1):e001027. doi: 10.1136/bmjresp-2021-001027. BMJ Open Respir Res. 2021. PMID: 34836925 Free PMC article.
-
Activity-related dyspnea in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: physical and psychological consequences, unmet needs, and future directions.Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2019 May 24;14:1127-1138. doi: 10.2147/COPD.S188141. eCollection 2019. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2019. PMID: 31213793 Free PMC article. Review.
References
-
- Scano G, Stendardi L, Grazzini M. Understanding dyspnoea by its language. Eur Respir J 2005; 25: 380–385. - PubMed
-
- Laviolette L, Laveneziana P. Dyspnoea: a multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach. Eur Respir J 2014; 43: 1750–1762. - PubMed
-
- Bausewein C, Booth S, Higginson IJ. Measurement of dyspnoea in the clinical rather than the research setting. Curr Opin Support Palliat Care 2008; 2: 95–99. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical