Operationalizing dyspnea: focus on measurement.

Dyspnea is a multidimensional disorder that nurses and physicians deal with in a variety of settings. Because dyspnea can have major effects on the lives of patients, health care providers need to accurately assess the antecedents and reactions to dyspnea and to evaluate the efficacy of their individualized interventions. To help practitioners assess patients who experience dyspnea related to physiologic and psychogenic alterations, we critically appraised the current tools used to evaluate dyspnea and present an organizing framework to categorize these tools.