Consistent, Concise and Meaningful: Clinician Perceptions of a Novel Dyspnea Assessment Tool

BackgroundDyspnea is a prevalent and distressing symptom in interstitial lung diseases with significant effects on patients' quality of life and associated with poorer prognosis. Guidelines recommend a multidimensional dyspnea assessment tool. We developed a validated 9-item scale, the Edmonton Dyspnea Inventory (EDI), in which dyspnea severity is rated across different settings including at rest, during activities of daily living, and self-reported exercise and crises. The standardized, multidimensional tool captures dyspnea intensity for specific contexts, which clinicians can use to manage dyspnea more individually and effectively. Early studies support the feasibility to use the EDI in outpatient settings. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of the EDI by community health care professionals.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative study using an inductive approach and open coding for content analysis. Email invitations were sent to community health care professionals and informed consent obtained from the twelve participants. Two focus groups and one key informant interview were conducted. Themes were extracted from transcripts and field note analyses.ResultsFour main themes described their dyspnea assessment with the EDI: the EDI is a meaningful clinical assessment tool; they explicitly engage and educate patients to effectively use the EDI; they use the EDI to personalize and evaluate dyspnea management; and the EDI is valuable for communication and interprofessional collaboration.ConclusionCommunity health care professionals perceived the EDI as valuable to assess dyspnea and personalize management. They recommended it be used in clinical practice and healthcare education for interprofessional dyspnea management for ILD patients.