The University of California, San Diego Shortness of Breath Questionnaire (SOBQ)
Name of questionnaire | The University of California, San Diego Shortness of Breath Questionnaire (SOBQ) **Since its initial development, the SOBQ has undergone a number of revisions to clarify and expand the rating scale of the original instrument, in order to minimize missing data. This summary refers to the new SOBQ version. |
Type of questionnaire-description | Self-administered rating of dyspnea associated with activities of daily living (ADLs) |
Number of items | 24 |
Number of domains & categories | Not specified |
Name of categories/domains | 21 items assess severity of shortness of breath during specific ADLs; if patients do not routinely perform the activity, they are asked to estimate the degree of shortness of breath anticipated. Three additional items ask about limitations due to: shortness of breath, fear of harm from overexertion and fear of shortness of breath. |
Scaling of items | 6-point scale (0 = "not at all" to 5 = "maximal or unable to do because of breathlessness") |
Scoring | Scores range from 0 to 120. |
Test-retest reproducibility | Not reported for the new version, but reported r = 0.94 for the previous version |
Internal consistency | New version: Cronbach's α= 0.96; previous version Cronbach's α= 0.91 |
Validity | reported, with significant negative correlation with exercise tolerance (6MW) (Eakin EG, Resnikoff PM, Prewitt LM, Ries AL, Kaplan RM. Validation of a new dyspnea measure. The UCSD shortness of breath questionnaire. Chest 1998, 113:619-24); previous version demonstrated moderate negative correlations with 6MW and quality of life (Quality of Well-Being Scale) and weaker correlations with lung function (FEV1 and FVC), depression and anxiety scores. |
Minimally important difference | 5 units |
Language | English for the USA |
Translations in other languages (if yes, then list the languages) | 15 translations currently available; for an up-to-date list, see: click here |
Developer name | Archibald CJ, Guidotti TL (old version); Eakin EG, Resnikoff PM, Prewitt LM, Ries AL, Kaplan RM (new version) |
Developer contact information | Andrew L. Ries, MD, MPH, FCCP, UCSD School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Dive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0602; aries@ucsd.edu |
Availability of questionnaire: needs permission from developer, cost or freely available | Copyrighted to the University of California. Contact the developer or the UCSD Technology Transfer Office for further instruction. With appropriate acknowledgment, freely available for educational, clinical, or non-profit research use. For commercial uses or by for-profit organizations, contact the UCSD Technology Transfer Office for licensing. |
References (original publication) | Original version: Archibald CJ, Guidotti TL. Degree of objectively measured impairment and perceived shortness of breath with activities of daily living in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Can J Rehab 1987, 1:45-54. **New Version: Eakin EG, Resnikoff PM, Prewitt LM, Ries AL, Kaplan RM. Validation of a new dyspnea measure. The UCSD shortness of breath questionnaire. Chest 1998, 113:619-24. Eakin EG, Resnikoff PM, Prewitt LM, Ries AL, Kaplan RM. Validation of a new dyspnea measure. The UCSD shortness of breath questionnaire. Chest 1998, 113:619-24. Eakin EG, Sassi-Dambron DE, Ries AL, Kaplan RM. Reliability and validity of dyspnea measures in patients with obstructive lung disease. Int J Behav Med. 1995, 2(2):118-34. Kupferberg DH, Kaplan RM, Slymen DJ, Ries AL. Minimal Clinically Important Difference for the UCSD Shortness of Breath Questionnaire. J Cardiopulm Rehabil. 2005, 25(6):370-7. |
Limitations | - |
Link to the questionnaire (if available) | Not available |
Comment | **The correlation of the new with original version was very good (r=0.89). |