classification

Last reviewed 01/2018

The New York Heart Association classify four grades of severity with respect to dyspnoea on exertion:

• normal

• moderate:
• walking on the level causes dyspnoea

• severe:
• unable to continue walking even slowly on the level
• all but the lightest housework is impossible

• gross:
• the slightest effort induces severe breathlessness
• the patient is practically confined to bed