Prevalence of dyspnoea and usage of opioids in managing dyspnoea in advanced cancer patients: a longitudinal observational multi-centre study from India

Abstract

Context: Breathlessness is one of the devastating symptoms experienced by patients with advanced cancer and can be very challenging to manage.Objectives: To find the point prevalence of dyspnoea in advanced cancer patients presenting to palliative care out-patient clinics, and the usage of opioids in palliation of dyspnoea. Methods:We conducted a prospective observational study among all consecutive patients presenting to the outpatient clinics of six cancer centres in India from different parts of the country. In addition to routinely documented demographic and clinical data from patient charts, study investigators collected information on the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System, Cancer Dyspnoea Scale (CDS) and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative Care. We calculated the prevalence of dyspnoea and documented the usage of opioids in palliation of dyspnoea using tests of differences across patient characteristics.