Qualifying thirst distress in the acute hospital setting – validation of a patient-reported outcome measure.

Objective: This study aims to examine validity and sensitivity of two visual analogue scales (VASs), measuring thirst intensity and thirst distress, and compare them with a validated thirst discomfort scale (TDS). Methods: This is a non-interventional, prospective and cross-sectional study. Researchers recruited 161 patients from an acute surgical hospital, who were identified at time of interaction as fasting. Data was collected using a questionnaire, which included the TDS. Criterion validity and construct validity was tested for the two VASs. Sensitivity was assessed based on the amount of time fasting from solid foods or fluids. Results: Results showed the VAS for thirst intensity, the VAS for thirst distress and the average of the VAS scores correlated with the TDS (ρ=0.66, 0.81 and 0.72 respectively, all p<0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the VAS is a valid and sensitive patientreported outcome measure for thirst distress in fasting patients.