Development of a shortened version of the Breathing Problems Questionnaire suitable for use in a pulmonary rehabilitation clinic: a purpose-specific, disease-specific questionnaire.

One hundred and thirty-eight chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients completed the Breathing Problems Questionnaire (BPQ) before and after a comprehensive programme of rehabilitation. Examination of the changes on individual items showed improvement on 22 items, of which four items were significant at p < 0.05 and deterioration on nine items, of which two were significant at p < 0.01. All deteriorating items were consistent with lifestyle adaptations encouraged as part of the rehabilitation programme. We examined the psychometric properties of a reduced ten item version of the BPQ limited to the items most sensitive to change. We recommend the purpose-specific, disease-specific COPD scale for measuring change in pulmonary rehabilitation assessment in contrast to the longer 33 item questionnaire, which, however, may be more useful for cross-sectional assessment.