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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Episodic Breathlessness with and without Background Dyspnea in Advanced Cancer Patients Admitted to an Acute Supportive Care Unit

Casuccio AlessandraPatrizia FerreraSebastiano MercadanteGiuseppe BonannoClaudio AdileVincenzo Restivo

subject

Cancer Researchmedicine.medical_specialtyPalliative careEpisodic breathlessneOpioidHospital Anxiety and Depression Scalelcsh:RC254-282ArticleCONSECUTIVE SAMPLE03 medical and health sciences0302 clinical medicineInternal medicineMedicineadvanced cancerIn patient030212 general & internal medicinepalliative carebusiness.industryopioidsClinical appearancedyspneaPalliative care.lcsh:Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogensAdvanced cancerConfidence intervalrespiratory tract diseasesepisodic breathlessnessOncology030220 oncology & carcinogenesisbusiness

description

Aim: To characterize episodic breathlessness (EB) in patients with advanced cancer, and to determine factors influencing its clinical appearance. Methods: A consecutive sample of advanced cancer patients admitted to an acute palliative care unit was surveyed. Continuous dyspnea and EB were measured by a numerical scale. The use of drugs used for continuous dyspnea and EB was recorded. Patients were asked about the characteristics of EB (frequency, intensity, duration and triggers). The Multidimensional dyspnea profile (MDP), the Brief dyspnea inventory (BDI), the Athens sleep scale (AIS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were also administered. Results: From 439 advanced cancer patients surveyed, 34 and 27 patients had EB, without and with background dyspnea, respectively. The mean intensity and the number of episodes were higher in patients with background dyspnea (p &lt

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2020-07-29Cancers
10.3390/cancers12082102https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/12/8/2102