Study objectives: Dyspnea ismostcommonly assessed byquestioning patients abouttheir subjective perception ofshortness ofbreath during physical exertion. Although speech produc¬

30-itemquestionnaires was given to203patients withrestrictive andobstructive pulmonary diseases. Their responses were analyzed statistically. Results: Thequestionnaire hadhigh internal consistency forindividual itemswithin eachofthe three sections. Thesections were highly correlated butprovided separate anddistinct informa¬ tion. Factors extracted fromeachsection were related toseverity ofdyspnea. Pairwise ttests demonstrated highly significant differences insubject responses tothethree sections. Theleast dyspnea was experienced during speech activities, more during physical activities, andthemost whenspeech andphysical activities were combined. Conclusions: Thequestionnaire proved tobeaquickly administered tool forproviding informa¬ tionabout theeffect ofdyspnea on activities ofdaily living. Becauseoftheemphasis on dyspnea during speech production, itmaybeparticularly useful forassessing patients whorely extensively on speaking ability fortheir livelihood. (CHEST 1998; 113:625-32)