title: Usefulness of the culturally adapted oxygen-cost diagram in the assessment of dyspnea in Puerto Rico.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Breathlessness is a common and disabling symptom of pulmonary disease. Measuring its severity is recommended as such measurements can be helpful in both clinical and research settings. The oxygen-cost diagram (OCD) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnea scale were developed in English to measure severity of dyspnea. These scales were previously translated to Spanish and adapted for use in a Hispanic population. The objective of this study is to assess the psychometric properties of these scales. We propose the scales correlate well with measures of physiological impairment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects having pulmonary disease rated their perceptions of dyspnea using the scales, performed a spirometry test, and did a 6-min walk. Spearman correlation coefficients (p) were used to correlate dyspnea scores with spirometric parameters and distance walked (6MWD).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-six patients having stable asthma (n = 36), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n = 19), or interstitial lung disease (n = 11) participated in the study. OCD scores showed a significant correlation with FEV1 (p = 0.41; p < 0.01), FEV1% (p = 0.36; p < 0.01), FVC (p = 0.44; p < 0.01), and FVC% (p = 0.37; p < 0.01) in the study population. The OCD scores were highly correlated with 6MWD (p = 0.59, p < 0.01). The MRC dyspnea scale showed significant inverse correlation with FEV1 (p = -0.34; p < 0.01) and 6MWD (p = -0.33; p < 0.05), but the correlations were weaker compared to the correlations with the OCD scale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The severity of breathlessness as measured by the adapted Spanish OCD showed a moderate to high correlation with spirometric parameters and 6MWD; therefore, the adapted OCD should prove to be useful in Puerto Rico.
authors: Yohana
authors: Y
authors: De Jesús-Berrios
authors: Ruth A
authors: RA
authors: Santos-Rodríguez
authors: Donald
authors: D
authors: Dexter
authors: Mariely
authors: M
authors: Nieves-Plaza
authors: Cruz M
authors: CM
authors: Nazario
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D017563:Lung Diseases, Interstitial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D011594:Psychometrics; D011647:Puerto Rico; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013147:Spirometry / Q000379:methods; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen