Use of Upper Limb Exercise to Assess Breathlessness in Patients with Cancer: Tolerability, Repeatability, and Sensitivity

Autor: Anne E. Tattersfield, Hilary Pavis, Vincent Crosby, Georgina Walker, Andrew Wilcock, Jane Edgecombe, Cathann Manderson, Debbie Broadhurst, Diane Carr
Rok vydání: 2005
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 29:559-564
ISSN: 0885-3924
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2004.09.003
Popis: We report the development of an arm exercise test to assess breathlessness in patients with lung cancer who are breathless at low levels of exertion. Exercise consisted of raising the arm over 40 cm, either the dominant arm only (n=10) or both arms alternating at minute intervals (n=12). Subjects breathed through a mouthpiece, and ventilation ( V ˙ E) and oxygen uptake ( V ˙ O 2 ) were measured. Following familiarization, three tests were performed over one week to explore repeatability, and sensitivity was assessed in a fourth test. Arm exercise was generally well tolerated and increased breathlessness, V ˙ E, and V ˙ O 2 . The commonest factor limiting exercise was arm fatigue, although four patients in the two-arm test also reported breathlessness. Repeatability for breathlessness score and V ˙ E was best in the two-arm test. The added resistance used to assess sensitivity could not be detected. The two-arm test offers a potential means of assessing the effects of an intervention on breathlessness and E in patients for whom a cycle or treadmill exercise test is unsuitable.
Databáze: OpenAIRE