Skip to main content

Table 4 Choice of pharmacological treatments for chronic breathlessness, in response to the case vignettes, compared between respiratory medicine (RM) and palliative care (PC) physicians

From: Do guidelines influence breathlessness management in advanced lung diseases? A multinational survey of respiratory medicine and palliative care physicians

 

COPD

fILD

LC

RM (n = 207–263)*

PC (n = 83–93)*

Specialties compared (χ2)

p value

RM (n = 193–214)*

PC (n = 65–83)*

Specialties compared (χ2)

p value

RM (n = 236–265)*

PC (n = 78–99)*

Specialties compared (χ2)

p value

Opioids

Oral dihydrocodeine regularly

6 (3%)

–

p = 0.042

8 (4%)

–

p = 0.402

11 (4%)

–

p = 0.003

Short-acting oral morphine PRN

79 (38%)

35 (38%)

81 (42%)

44 (53%)

90 (34%)

30 (30%)

Short-acting oral morphine regularly

45 (22%)

31 (33%)

36 (19%)

17 (21%)

54 (20%)

32 (32%)

Long-acting oral morphine regularly

57 (28%)

20 (22%)

50 (26%)

17 (21%)

84 (32%)

25 (25%)

Subcutaneous morphine injection PRN

10 (5%)

–

7 (4%)

1 (1%)

8 (3%)

–

Subcutaneous morphine injection regularly or continuous

1 (1%)

2 (2%)

2 (1%)

1 (1%)

8 (3%)

9 (9%)

Other short-acting PRN

9 (5%)

5 (5%)

9 (5%)

3 (3%)

10 (4%)

3 (3%)

Benzodiazepines

Long-acting orally PRN

21 (10%)

4 (5%)

p < 0.001

20 (9%)

2 (3%)

p < 0.001

26 (11%)

1 (1%)

p < 0.001

Long-acting orally regularly

21 (10%)

1 (1%)

23 (11%)

1 (1%)

37 (15%)

6 (6%)

Intermediate-acting orally PRN

98 (44%)

60 (69%)

99 (47%)

59 (78%)

80 (33%)

60 (61%)

Intermediate-acting orally regularly

38 (17%)

7 (8%)

46 (22%)

7 (9%)

69 (28%)

13 (13%)

Short-acting subcutaneously PRN

40 (18%)

9 (10%)

21 (10%)

6 (8%)

28 (11%)

11 (11%)

Short-acting subcutaneously regularly

2 (1%)

2 (2%)

4 (2%)

1 (1%)

6 (2%)

7 (7%)

Other

1 (1%)

4 (5%)

–

–

–

 

Antidepressants

SSRI

135 (51%)

17 (21%)

p < 0.001

118 (55%)

20 (31%)

p < 0.001

125 (53%)

18 (23%)

p < 0.001

NaSSA

22 (8%)

22 (27%)

22 (10%)

21 (32%)

23 (10%)

27 (35%)

Tricyclic

21 (8%)

4 (5%)

16 (8%)

1 (2%)

19 (8%)

5 (6%)

SNRI

4 (2%)

1 (1%)

4 (2%)

1 (2%)

11 (5%)

2 (3%)

Other

1 (1%)

–

5 (2%)

–

3 (1%)

–

Not used for breathlessness only

80 (30%)

39 (47%)

49 (23%)

22 (34%)

55 (23%)

26 (33%)

  1. Percentages > or < 100% are due to rounding
  2. COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; fILD, Fibrotic Interstitial Lung Disease; LC, Lung Cancer; PC, Palliative Care; RM, Respiratory Medicine. *Varied “n” based on differing rates of prescribing for each category of pharmacological treatment
Back to article page

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

ISSN: 1471-2466

Contact us