ArticlePloS one2023
Which breathlessness dimensions associate most strongly with fatigue?-The population-based VASCOL study of elderly men.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Breathlessness limiting exertion and under- and unemployment: results from a national, online population survey.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Using AI to determine optimal cost-effective diagnostic pathways for chronic breathlessness.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2026Article
- Breathlessness in the general population.Current opinion in supportive and palliative care · 2025Review
- Exertional breathlessness related to medical conditions in middle-aged people: the population-based SCAPIS study of more than 25,000 men and women.Respiratory research · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBreathlessness and fatigue are common symptoms in older people. We aimed to evaluate how different breathlessness dimensions (overall intensity, unpleasantness, sensory descriptors, emotional responses) were associated with fatigue in elderly men.
methodsThis was a cross-sectional analysis of the population-based VAScular disease and Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (VASCOL) study of 73-year old men. Breathlessness dimensions were assessed using the Dyspnoea-12 (D-12), Multidimensional Dyspnoea Profile (MDP), and the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale. Fatigue was assessed using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F) questionnaire. Clinically relevant fatigue was defined as FACIT-F≤ 30 units. Scores were compared standardized as z-scores and analysed using linear regression, adjusted for body mass index, smoking, depression, cancer, sleep apnoea, prior cardiac surgery, respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
resultsOf 677 participants, 11.7% had clinically relevant fatigue. Higher breathlessness scores were associated with having worse fatigue; for D-12 total, -0.35 ([95% CI] -0.41 to -0.30) and for MDP A1, -0.24 (-0.30 to -0.18). Associations were similar across all the evaluated breathlessness dimensions even when adjusting for the potential confounders.
conclusionBreathlessness assessed using D-12 and MDP was associated with worse fatigue in elderly men, similarly across different breathlessness dimensions.
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