Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal disease with progressive degeneration of central and peripheral motor neurons. Weakness of pharyngeal and respiratory muscles lead to dyspnea, which is present in up to 80% of patients. Dyspnea in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (DALS-15) is a questionnaire designed to measure the severity of dyspnea. DALS-15 was originally created in German language. The aim of this study is to validate the Polish-language version of DALS-15.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease with progressive degeneration of central and peripheral motor neurons with death occurring usually three to five years after onset. Weakness of pharyngeal and respiratory muscles lead to chronic dyspnea, which is present in up to 80% of patients and which contributes to anxiety, depression, and significant decrease of the quality of life. Moreover, these symptoms, along with daytime sleepiness or apathy may mask the dyspnea itself and the patient may stay unaware of increasing respiratory insufficiency. Recognizing the time of the onset of respiratory insufficiency is on the other hand important for the planning of respiratory assistance therapy, which in ALS includes continuous positive airway pressure, as well as the noninvasive and the invasive ventilation. Dyspnea in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (DALS-15) is a questionnaire designed to measure the severity of dyspnea. DALS-15 was originally created in German language. It is a 15-item tool. Particular items are descriptions of the severity of subjective dyspnea or refer to daily consequences of dyspnea such as avoiding the sleep in supine position or refer to the situations when dyspnea may occur, such as physical effort. Each item may be answered with "never", "occasionally" or "often", which are scored 0, 1 and 2, respectively. The total, arithmetical score, which ranges from 0 to 30 is then transformed according to the provided table into an interval score, which reflects the impact of dyspnea more accurately. The original DALS-15 showed excellent psychometric properties and has been already validated for Turkish language. The aim of this study is to validate the Polish-language version of DALS-15.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of definite ALS, or probable ALS or probable, laboratory supported ALS according to revised Escorial criteria [Brooks et al. 2000].
• Complaining of dyspnea on exertion, or dyspnea at rest, or orthopnea without evidence of pulmonary or cardiac causes of dyspnea.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cognitive impairment severe enough to interfere with study process.

Patients who suffer of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (named also motor neuron disease, Lou Gehrig's disease or Charcot's disease) and have breathlessness or shortness of breath due to this disease. Eligible patients cannot have problems with breathing because of other conditions such as heart or lung diseases. They also must not suffer from mental problems severe enough to cause problems with understanding of scales and questionaires used in the study.

After the study is completed, the scans of collected questionnaires will be available upon request sent to the e-mail: jakub.antczak@uj.edu.pl

After the study is completed for the period of ten years.

Researchers affiliated in institutions listed on clinicaltrials.gov.