Descriptors of Dyspnea

When patients complain of breathlessness, they are generally reporting familiar sensations that become noticeable on low levels of exertion. When questioned by physicians, patients volunteer comments such as "It’s hard to breathe," "I can't get enough air," or "My chest feels tight." Based upon these volunteered descriptions, and because patients can become highly creative in their descriptions of breathlessness, researchers have developed a list of descriptive sentences for dyspnea. The healthcare provider may wish to read the list, asking patients to identify those statements that most closely reflect their individual experiences in order to categorize the sensation of dyspnea as accurately as possible. The use of specific descriptors can point healthcare providers in a certain diagnostic direction.

• I feel that I am suffocating
• my chest feels tight
• my breathing is heavy
• I feel that I am smothering
• my breath does not go in all the way
• I feel that I am breathing more
• I feel that my breathing is rapid
• my breathing requires effort
• I cannot get enough air
• I feel a hunger for air
• my breathing is shallow
• I feel out of breath
• my chest is constricted
• my breathing requires work

In 1 study, patients with asthma were most likely to select "My breath does not go out all the way," "My breathing requires effort," and "My chest feels tight." Patients with COPD were most likely to choose statements indicating that breathing involved work ("My breathing requires effort," "My breathing requires work"), or that they felt out of breath ("I feel a hunger for more air," "I feel out of breath," "I cannot get enough air").