Development and initial psychometric properties of the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Symptom Scale (PAHSS)

The aim of this study is to report the development and psychometric properties of the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Symptom Scale (PAHSS). Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) experience multiple symptoms such as dyspnea, fatigue and chest pain, yet there is no comprehensive, validated symptom assessment tool to date. This study used a cross sectional design. Participants completed: socio-demographic and medical data form, the PAHSS, the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 and the Profile of Mood States short form. The PAHSS contains 17 symptoms measured on a 0 to 10 scale. Principal components analysis demonstrated a three factor solution for the PAHSS: pulmonary, diffuse, and cardiac. Coefficient alphas were good. Statistically significant Pearson coefficients were found between the PAHSS and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 and the Profile of Mood States short form. Findings show that the PAHSS is a promising scale to assess symptom severity.