4 Scales with 14 questions:
(1) severity of common symptoms (non pain symptom scale): 7 questions
(2) pain intensity: 2 questions
(3) pain disability: 3 questions
(4) satisfaction with dyspepsia-related health: 2 questions
The 7 common symptoms (burping, heartburn, bloating, passing gas, sour taste, nausea and bad breath) are graded from no problem (1 point) to very severe problem (5 points).
where:
• Mild problem: can be ignored when you do not think about it.
• Moderate problem: cannot be ignored but does not influence daily activities.
• Severe problem: influences your concentration on daily activities.
• Very severe problem: markedly influences your daily activities and/or requires rest.
The 2 pain intensity questions were 10 cm VAS anchored at no discomfort (0 cm) to extreme discomfort (10 cm):
(1) worst abdominal discomfort
(2) average abdominal discomfort
The 3 pain disability questions were 10 cm VAS anchored at no interference or change (0 cm) to extreme interference or change (10 cm) associated with the abdominal discomfort:
(1) interference with daily activities
(2) ability to participate in recreational, social or family activities
(3) ability to work
The 2 questions dealing with dyspepsia-related health (satisfaction, pleased about level of control) were graded from definitely true (1 point) to definitely false (5 points).
Interpretation:
• responses to each scale is linearly transformed to a 0 to 100 range, with 0 indicating most severe and 100 least severe symptoms
• more severe dyspepsia has a score of 50 or less
• less severe dyspepsia has a score of 51-100
Equations to convert scores to 0-100 range
severity of common symptoms (non pain symptom scale) =
= (-100 / 28 * (score)) + (3500/28)
pain intensity =
= (-5 * (score)) + (100)
pain disability =
= (-10 / 3 * (score)) + (100)
satisfaction with dyspepsia-related health =
= (-25 / 2 * (score)) + (125)
