Table 3.
Meaningfulness of 3-month change in shortness of breath patient global impression of severity with response options of 0–4 or “not at all” to “very severe”
| Response options | Over the Last Week, How Severe Has Your Shortness of Breath Been? | Over the Last Week, How Severe Has Your Shortness of Breath Been? | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 1 2 3 4 | ||||
| Meaningful worsening | 1 point | 2 points | 3 points | 4 points |
| All (N = 286) | 104 (36.4%) | 130 (45.5%) | 39 (13.6) | 13 (4.6) |
| O2 users (n = 125) | 46 (36.8%) | 54 (43.2%) | 18 (14.4%) | 7 (5.6%) |
| No O2 (n = 161) | 58 (36.0%) | 76 (47.2%) | 21 (13.0%) | 6 (3.7%) |
| Meaningful improvement | 1 point | 2 points | 3 points | 4 points |
| All (N = 286) | 97 (33.9%) | 135 (47.2%) | 42 (14.7%) | 12 (4.2%) |
| O2 users (n = 125) | 35 (28.0%) | 55 (44.0%) | 28 (22.4%) | 7 (5.6%) |
| No O2 (n = 161) | 62 (38.5%) | 80 (49.7%) | 14 (8.7%) | 5 (3.1%) |
| Response options | Not at all Mild Moderate Severe Very severe | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meaningful worsening | 1 category | 2 categories | 3 categories | 4 categories |
| All (N = 279) | 139 (49.8%) | 100 (35.8%) | 26 (9.3%) | 14 (5.0%) |
| O2 users (n = 122) | 61 (50.0%) | 38 (31.2%) | 14 (11.5%) | 9 (7.4%) |
| No O2 (n = 157) | 78 (49.7%) | 62 (39.5%) | 12 (7.6%) | 5 (3.2%) |
| Meaningful improvement | 1 category | 2 categories | 3 categories | 4 categories |
| All (N = 279) | 116 (41.6%) | 118 (42.3%) | 31 (11.1%) | 14 (5.0%) |
| O2 users (n = 122) | 46 (37.7%) | 50 41.0%) | 17 (13.9%) | 9 (7.4%) |
| No O2 (n = 157) | 70 (44.6%) | 68 43.3%) | 14 (8.9%) | 5 (3.2%) |
“O2 users” indicates respondents who used supplemental oxygen during the day; “no O2” indicates no O2 use or use during sleep only. For the 0–4 numeric rating scale, the survey stated that “0” means “not at all” and higher numbers correspond to greater severity. Among all respondents, the weighted κ for agreement between responses for meaningful improvement and worsening shortness of breath severity (e.g., 1-category for improvement and worsening, 2 categories for improvement and worsening) was 0.81 (95% confidence limits, 0.74–0.88). And, among all respondents, the weighted κ for agreement between responses for what constitutes meaningful improvement and worsening was 0.62 (95% confidence limits, 0.54–0.70). Agreement was the same for subgroups stratified on O2 use (users, 0.60; nonusers, 0.63).