The Interpretation of Dyspnea in the Patient with Asthma

Table 1

Bivariate analysis using Spearman correlation to measure association of dyspnea (dependent variable) with lung function and psychometric data obtained in the emergency department (independent variables) obtained simultaneously.

Independent variable	Mean (+SD)	Spearman
FEV1, % predicted	41 + 22		0.006
IC, % predicted	57 + 27		0.036
PEFR, % predicted	38 + 23		0.009
API	9 (1, 32)		0.001
SPTZ			0.370

API = acute panic inventory; FEV1 = forced expiratory volume, one second; PEFR = peak expiratory flow rate; IC = inspiratory capacity; SPTZ = Spitzer binary assessment, administered after treatment only. Group data for API scores are expressed as median (maximum, minimum). For all other variables, group data are expressed as mean + SD.