PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Eralda Hegendörfer AU - Alexander Doukhopelnikoff AU - Jean-Marie Degryse TI - Validity and Reliability of the Multidimensional Dyspnoea Profile in Older Adults AID - 10.1183/23120541.00606-2020 DP - 2020 Jan 01 TA - ERJ Open Research PG - 00606-2020 4099 - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/early/2020/10/29/23120541.00606-2020.short 4100 - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/early/2020/10/29/23120541.00606-2020.full AB - Breathlessness is a common and distressing symptom in older adults and an independent predictor of adverse outcomes. Yet, its multidimensional assessment has not been validated in older adults. We apply and validate the Multidimensional Dyspnoea Profile (MDP) in a sample of adults 75 years and older in Belgium.Breathlessness was rated with the MDP, modified Borg dyspnoea scale, numerical rating scale for intensity and unpleasantness both before and after exertion (the short battery of physical performance tests (SPPB)), as well as with the Medical Research Council dyspnoea scale. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) assessed the affective status. Factor structure was analysed with exploratory principal components analysis, internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha and concurrent validity with Spearman's correlation coefficients with other breathlessness scales, HADS and SPPB scores.In 96 participants (mean age: 85 years; 34% men) who rated breathlessness at both assessment points, exploratory principal components analysis identified two components: immediate perception (IP) and emotional reaction (ER) explaining most of MDP item variance (65.37% before and 71.32% after exertion). Internal consistency was moderate to high for MDP-IP (Cronbach's alpha=0.86 before and 0.89 after exertion) and MDP-ER (Cronbach's alpha= 0.89 before and 0.91 after exertion). The correlation patterns of MDP-IP and MDP-ER with other tests confirmed concurrent validity.The domain structure, reliability and concurrent validity of MDP for breathlessness before and after exertion were confirmed in a sample of adults 75 years and older, supporting its use and further research for the multidimensional profiling of breathlessness in older adults.FootnotesThis manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the ERJ Open Research. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJOR online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.Conflict of interest: Dr. Hegendörfer has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Doukhopelnikoff has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Degryse has nothing to disclose.