TY - JOUR T1 - Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile: an instrument for clinical and laboratory research JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1681 LP - 1691 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00038914 VL - 45 IS - 6 AU - Robert B. Banzett AU - Carl R. O'Donnell AU - Tegan E. Guilfoyle AU - Mark B. Parshall AU - Richard M. Schwartzstein AU - Paula M. Meek AU - Richard H. Gracely AU - Robert W. Lansing Y1 - 2015/06/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/45/6/1681.abstract N2 - 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. The Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile provides a unified, reliable instrument for both clinical and laboratory research http://ow.ly/Ix8ic ER -