OBJECTIVE Three types of asthmatic patients can be identified during periods of clinical stability: "poor perceivers," "normal perceivers," and "over perceivers." When asthmatics undergo bronchial challenge in the laboratory, the same distinctions in type of perception can be observed. The aim of the present study was to determine the level of agreement between the 2 situations. PATIENTS AND ...

BACKGROUND Respiratory muscle weakness in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) leads to respiratory failure for which non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) is an effective treatment. This is used initially at night (n-NIPPV) but, as the disease progresses, diurnal use (d-NIPPV) is often necessary. The connection between NIPPV and relief of respiratory muscle fatigue rema...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the moderate term (5 weeks) reproducibility of Borg scale ratings of the effort to breathe (Borge) and the degree of discomfort evoked by breathing (Borgd) in patients with COPD during exercise. Six subjects with moderately severe COPD (FEV1, 1.42 +/- 0.50 L) underwent progressive incremental exercise (15 W/min) on a cycle ergometer to a symptom-limited...

OBJECTIVE Few studies have evaluated the variability of the perception of dyspnea in healthy subjects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the variability of the perception of dyspnea in healthy subjects during breathing against increasing inspiratory resistive loads, as well as to assess the association between the level of perception of dyspnea and the level of physical activity. ME...

Quantifying muscle force and fatigue is important in designing ergonomic work stations, in planning appropriate work-rest patterns, and in preventing/assessing the progress of disorders. In 14 subjects (seven males, seven females), muscle force and fatigue were estimated by subjective perception (based on Borg scale CR10) and objective indexes extracted from surface electromyogram (EMG). The ex...

OBJECTIVE To assess which subjective scale, the visual analogue scale (VAS), the Borg CR10 (Borg) scale, or the Likert scale (LS), if any, is decidedly more reproducible and sensitive to change in the assessment of symptoms. DESIGN Prospective clinical study. SETTING Exercise laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-three physically active male subjects (mean +/- SD age of 30 +/- 4 years old) were...