The Respiratory Distress Observation Scale© (RDOS) is an innovative solution to assessment when a dyspnea report cannot be elicited. The RDOS has acceptable reliability and validity psychometrics. This study aimed to identify distress-intensity cut-points of the RDOS.

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted with inpatients stratified by four levels of respiratory distress—none, mild, moderate, or severe. Patients provided three self-report measures of dyspnea: dichotomous (yes/no); a ranking of none, mild, moderate, or severe; and a numerical rating scale.