Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume 39, Issue 4 , Pages 680-690 , April 2010

Do the Trajectories of Dyspnea Differ in Prevalence and Intensity By Diagnosis at the End of Life? A Consecutive Cohort Study

  • David C. Currow, BMed, MPH, FRACP

      Affiliations

    • Department of Palliative and Supportive Services, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to: David C. Currow, BMed, MPH, FRACP, Flinders University, 700, Goodwood Road, Daw Park, South Australia 5041, Australia.
    • ,
  • Joanna Smith, BPsych

      Affiliations

    • Silver Chain Nursing Association, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
    • ,
  • Patricia M. Davidson, BA, MEd, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Curtin University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
    • ,
  • Phillip J. Newton, BN (Hons), PhD

      Affiliations

    • Curtin University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
    • ,
  • Meera R. Agar, MBBS (Hons), M Pall Care, FRACP, FAChPM

      Affiliations

    • Department of Palliative and Supportive Services, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia
    • Braeside Hospital, Prairiewood, New South Wales, Australia
    • ,
  • Amy P. Abernethy, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Palliative and Supportive Services, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia
    • Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA

,Accepted 28 September 2009.

References 

  1. Currow DC, Plummer J, Crockett A, et al. A community population survey of prevalence and severity of dyspnea in adults. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2009;38(4):533–545
  2. Reuben D, Mor V. Dyspnea in terminally ill cancer patients. Chest. 1986;89(2):234–236
  3. Vainio A, Auvinen A. Prevalence of symptoms among patients with advanced cancer: an international collaborative study. J Pain Symptom Manage. 1996;12(1):3–10
  4. Mercadante S, Casuccio A, Fulfaro F. The course of symptom frequency and intensity in advanced cancer patients followed at home. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2000;20(2):104–112
  5. Bruera E, Scmitz B, Pither J, et al. The frequency and correlates of dyspnea in patients with advanced cancer. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2000;19(5):357–362
  6. Dudgeon D, Kristjanson L, Lertzman M, et al. Dyspnea in cancer patients. Prevalence and associated factors. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2001;21:95–102
  7. Tanaka K, Akechi T, Okuyama T, et al. Prevalence and screening of dyspnea interfering with daily life activities in ambulatory patients with advanced lung cancer. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2002;23(6):484–489
  8. Caprio A, Hanson L, Munn J. Pain, dyspnea, and the quality of dying in long-term care. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2008;56(4):683–688
  9. Steinhauser KE, Clipp EC, McNeilly M, et al. In search of a good death: observations of patients, families and providers. Ann Intern Med. 2000;132:825–832
  10. Moody L, McMillan S. Dyspnea and quality of life indicators in hospice patients and their caregivers. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2003;1(1):9–17
  11. Bailey PH. The dyspnea-anxiety-dyspnea cycle—COPD patients' stories of breathlessness: “It's scary when you can't breathe”. Qual Health Res. 2004;14(6):760–778
  12. Currow DC, Ward AM, Clark K, et al. Caregivers for people with end-stage lung disease: characteristics and unmet needs in the whole population. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2008;3(4):753–762
  13. Zhao I, Yates P. Non-pharmacological interventions for breathlessness management in patients with lung cancer: a systematic review. Palliat Med. 2008;22(6):693–701
  14. Jennings AL, Davies AN, Higgins JPT, et al. A systematic review of the use of opioids in the management of dyspnea. Thorax. 2002;57(11):939–944
  15. Abernethy AP, Currow DC, Frith P, et al. Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover trial of sustained release morphine for the management of refractory dyspnea. Br Med J. 2003;327(7414):523–528
  16. Currow DC, Agar M, Smith J, et al. Does palliative home oxygen improve dyspnea? A consecutive cohort study. Palliat Med. 2009;23(4):309–316
  17. Currow DC, Christou T, Smith J, et al. Do terminally ill people who live alone miss out on home oxygen treatment? An hypothesis generating study?. J Palliat Med. 2008;11(7):1015–1022
  18. Claessens MT, Lynn J, Zhong Z, et al. Dying with lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: insights from SUPPORT. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2000;48(5):147–153
  19. Kristjanson L, Pickstock S, Yuen K, et al. Development and testing of the revised Symptom Assessment Scale (SAS). Perth, Western Australia: Edith Cowan University; 1999;
  20. Bausewein C, Farquhar M, Booth S, et al. Measurement of breathlessness in advanced disease: a systematic review. Respir Med. 2007;101(3):399–410
  21. Currow DC, Abernethy AP, Fazekas BS. Specialist palliative care needs of whole populations. A feasibility study using a novel approach. Palliat Med. 2004;18(3):239–247
  22. Higginson I. Health needs assessment: palliative and terminal care. In:  Stevens A,  Raftery J editor. Health care needs assessment. Oxford, UK: Radcliffe Medical Press; 1997;p. 183–260
  23. Teunissen SC, Wesker W, Kruitwagen C, et al. Symptom prevalence in patients with incurable cancer: a systematic review. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2007;34(1):94–104
  24. Koffman J, Harding R, Higginson I. Palliative Care: the magnitude of the problem. In:  Mitchell G editors. Palliative care: A patient-centered approach. Abdingdon, UK: Radcliffe; 2007;p. 7–77
  25. Johnson CE, Girgis A, Paul CL, et al. General practitioners' palliative care referral practices and perceptions: results of a national survey. Palliat Support Care. In press.
  26. Lynn J, Ely EW, Zhong Z, et al. Living and dying with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2000;48(5):91–100
  27. Edmonds P, Karlsen S, Khan S, et al. A comparison of the palliative care needs of patients dying from chronic respiratory diseases and lung cancer. Palliat Med. 2001;15:287–295
  28. Carrieri-Kohlman V, Gormley JM, Douglas MK, Paul SM, Stulbarg MS. Differentiation between dyspnea and its affective components. West J Nurs Res. 1996;18(6):626–642
  29. Tishelman C, Degner LF, Rudman A, et al. Symptoms in patients with lung carcinoma: distinguishing distress from intensity. Cancer. 2005;104(9):2013–2021
  30. Henoch I, Bergman B, Gustafsson M, Gaston-Johansson F, Danielson E. Dyspnea experience in patients with lung cancer in palliative care. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2008;12:86–96
  31. Simon PM, Schwartzstein RM, Weiss JW, et al. Distinguishable types of dyspnea in patients with shortness of breath. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1990;142:1009–1014
  32. Harver A, Mahler DA, Schwartzstein RM, Baird JC. Descriptors of breathlessness in healthy individuals: distinct and separable constructs. Chest. 2000;118:679–690
  33. Currow DC, Agar M, Sanderson C, et al. Populations who die without specialist palliative care: does lower uptake equate with unmet need?. Palliat Med. 2008;22(1):43–50
  34. Uronis HE, Currow DC, McCrory DC, et al. Oxygen for relief of dyspnea in mildly- or non-hypoxaemic patient with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Cancer. 2008;98(2):294–299

PII: S0885-3924(10)00139-9

doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2009.09.017

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume 39, Issue 4 , Pages 680-690 , April 2010

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution