Biomaterial Database

Use of visual analogue scales for assessment of the severity of asthma. 1988

R Dhand, and S Kalra, and S K Malik

Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.

Use of visual analogue scales (VAS) can provide reliable assessment of dyspnea. In order to determine if VAS can be used for clinical assessment of asthma we administered the scale to 40 stable asthmatics and found a good correlation (r = -0.72) with the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) readings expressed as per cent of predicted normal. The scales were also used to assess severity in 12 acutely ill asthmatics. Values of VAS and PEFR were recorded at the time of admission and twice daily thereafter till discharge from the hospital. The correlation of the two parameters was less than that obtained in stable asthmatics, but graphic parallelism was remarkable.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D010366	Peak Expiratory Flow Rate	Measurement of the maximum rate of airflow attained during a FORCED VITAL CAPACITY determination. Common abbreviations are PEFR and PFR.	Expiratory Peak Flow Rate,Flow Rate, Peak Expiratory,PEFR
D011237	Predictive Value of Tests	In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test is a true positive (i.e., has the disease), is referred to as the predictive value of a positive test; whereas, the predictive value of a negative test is the probability that the person with a negative test does not have the disease. Predictive value is related to the sensitivity and specificity of the test.	Negative Predictive Value,Positive Predictive Value,Predictive Value Of Test,Predictive Values Of Tests,Negative Predictive Values,Positive Predictive Values,Predictive Value, Negative,Predictive Value, Positive
D011897	Random Allocation	A process involving chance used in therapeutic trials or other research endeavor for allocating experimental subjects, human or animal, between treatment and control groups, or among treatment groups. It may also apply to experiments on inanimate objects.	Randomization,Allocation, Random
D004417	Dyspnea	Difficult or labored breathing.	Orthopnea,Platypnea,Recumbent Dyspnea,Rest Dyspnea,Trepopnea,Breathlessness,Shortness of Breath,Breath Shortness,Dyspnea, Recumbent,Dyspnea, Rest,Dyspneas, Rest
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults