Dyspnea could be accurately assessed by a caregiver in hospitalized patients with respiratory diseases: Interrater reliability and agreement study.

BACKGROUND: The perception of dyspnea is a subjective feeling typically self-assessed by the patient. However, the assessment by a caregiver is sometimes required. OBJECTIVES: The primary aim was to compare patient self-assessment and caregiver assessment of dyspnea (interrater reliability) using the modified Borg and visual analog scale (VAS) in hospitalized patients. The secondary aim was to compare dyspnea assessment between the two scales for patients and caregiver (inter-instrument reliability). METHODS: Self-assessment of dyspnea intensity of hospitalized patients with respiratory diseases was compared with caregiver's assessment. Dyspnea intensity was measured using two scales, the modified Borg scale (0-10 scale) and the 10 cm VAS. Mean difference and 95% confidence interval (CI) between assessors (i.e. patient versus caregiver) were calculated for each scale. Inter- and intra-rater reliability was calculated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). RESULTS: A total of 254 patients were recruited. The mean differences between patient and caregiver ratings were 0.31 (95% CI: 0.09, 0.53) for the modified Borg scale and 0.36 (95% CI: 0.06, 0.65) for the VAS scale. Interrater reliability was good for both scales with ICC of 0.79 (95% CI: 0.73, 0.84) for VAS and 0.82 (95% CI: 0.77, 0.86) for the modified Borg scale. The mean differences in scores between scales were 0.93 (95% CI 0.69, 1.17) for patients' ratings and 0.88 (95% CI 0.72, 1.04) for caregiver's rating. The inter-instrument reliability was moderate to good and similar for both assessors. CONCLUSION: Dyspnea can be accurately estimated by caregivers when patients with lung diseases cannot self-report. Scores on the VAS to rate dyspnea were higher than the scores on the Borg scale.