Abstract

The objective of our study was to search the correlation between Modified Borg Scale, Visual Analog Scale, Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale, Baseline Dyspnea Index, Oxygen Cost Diagram which are used to determine the severity of the dyspnea symptom and to determine the most suitable scale among those. The dyspnea severity with five scales of the 30 patients with COPD has been evaluated. Physical characteristics of cases were recorded. Pulmonary function test and arterial blood gas analysis were performed. Dyspnea severities of the cases were 1.63±2.36, 2.13±2.53, 1.67±1.21, 6.87±3.31, 4.37±2.84 for Modified Borg Scale, Visual Analog Scale, Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale, Baseline Dyspnea Index, Oxygen Cost Diagram respectively. It was determined that there was a correletion between age and Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (r=0.36, p=0.05), and Baseline Dyspnea Index (r= -0.40, p=0.03). While it was proven that only %FEV1 was having a correlation with Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (r= -0.42, p=0.02) and Baseline Dyspnea Index (r=0.38, p=0.04). In addition to these determinations Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale, Modified Borg Scale and Visual Analog Scale had a strong correlation defining their relationships with each other (p<0.05). Although the study sample was small, it has been observed that Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale and Baseline Dyspnea Index scales were more related with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. This close relationship was based on the fact that, these scales observed dyspnea severity thoroughly in daily activities and they were more understandable for these patients. Referring to this fact the necessity of their widespread usage has been emphasized.