| pubmed-article:2070388 | pubmed:abstractText | The object of the investigation was to assess the influence of previously experienced maximal dyspnoea on assessed values of dyspnoea in healthy volunteers. In these subjects threshold to medium dyspnoea was evoked by application of three different flow resistances of 1 or 2 or 4 kPa-1.s-1 for a period of 2 mins. Maximum dyspnoea was evoked by occlusion of the airways for a period of several breathes. The control and experimental group comprised a total of 16 healthy volunteers aged 21 to 22 years. To evaluate the dyspnoea the 10-point Borg visual analogue scale was used. It was revealed that the magnitude of different resistances in blind and random inclusion of these resistances was reliably differentiated by the subjects regardless whether they had a previous experience of maximal dyspnoea. A significantly higher grade of dyspnoea was, however, recorded in all three tested resistances in subjects who had a previous experience of dyspnoea. This phenomenon is explained by the sensation of anxiety and threatened vital function closely before the model obstruction in the experimental group. The authors recommend based on their own experience and data in the literature Borg's ventical scale for quantification of dyspnoea. When assessment are made it must be, however, stated how the examined subjects were instructed in advance and whether they had a previous experience of dyspnoea. | lld:pubmed |
