The Thirst Distress Scale for patients with Heart Failure (TDS-HF)

The TDS-HF was developed to be used in studies about thirst distress in patients with heart failure. Thirst distress is the degree to which a patient is bothered by thirst or its associated discomfort. Thirst distress is one of the thirst dimensions experienced by the patient. Other dimensions are the thirst intensity (the severity or strength), thirst experience related to time (e.g. frequency), and the thirst quality (how thirst is described with own words). Thirst distress can be important to measure, considering that thirst can have emotional consequences and decrease the quality of life in patients with HF.

The development and psychometric evaluation of the TDS-HF is described in our article “Development and psychometric evaluation of the Thirst Distress Scale for patients with heart failure”(2018). The TDS-HF consists of 8 statements about how the patient experiences his/her thirst during the last 2-3 days (a total of 8 items). The 8 items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Patients are instructed to read each statement carefully and choose one of 5 possible answers for each statement that best describes the patients experience of thirst between strongly disagree (on the left side, number 1) and strongly agree (on the right side, number 5). The internal consistency of the TDS-HF analysed with Cronbach´s alpha is good (0.90).

Language versions of the TDS-HF

There are several translated language versions of TDS-HF. The translations of TDS-HF are produced using a standardized translation procedure protocol, whichcomplies with the COSMIN checklist. The protocol aims to ensure semantic and conceptual equivalence and involve a forward/backward translation process. If you are looking for TDS-HF for your country and it is missing, please contact Nana Waldréus for permission for a translation.