View clinical trials related to Breathlessness.
Filter by:Breathlessness is a common and distressing symptom in patients with advanced diseases like cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic heart failure (CHF) or lung fibrosis, which broadly impacts on patients' quality of life and may result in high burden for carers. This single-blinded randomized controlled fast track trial evaluates the effectiveness of a multi-professional breathlessness service in patients with advanced and chronic diseases. The intervention group will get immediate access to the breathlessness service whereas the control group will receive standard care and get access to the service after a waiting time of eight weeks. Primary endpoints are mastery of breathlessness and quality of life, measured with the CRQ (Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire) as well as the reduction of symptom burden of patients and burden of carers. The evaluation of the cost effectiveness of the breathlessness service from the perspective of the German health system is a further study aim.
Many individuals with lung cancer experience debilitating breathlessness at some point during the course of their illness. Unfortunately, few interventions exist to treat this distressing symptom of cancer. In this study, the investigators plan on recruiting individuals with lung cancer to participate in a behavioral intervention to help relieve breathlessness. The principal investigator of the study, Dr. Joseph Greer, is a licensed clinical psychologist who has trained nurse practitioners in how to deliver the behavioral intervention. The nurse practitioners will meet with patients diagnosed with lung cancer during their outpatient oncology appointments, such as chemotherapy infusions, to review the behavioral skills that may help with breathlessness. Specifically, the intervention includes education about the relationship between breathlessness and the stress response as well as teaches patients skills for breathing control and relaxation of the body. For this single-group pilot study, the investigators will ask participants to provide feedback about whether they found the intervention acceptable and effective. Participants will also complete questionnaires about their physical and psychological symptoms before and after the intervention in order to measure its effectiveness for treating breathlessness and any distress related to breathlessness. The data from this study will help inform improvements to the intervention in order to make it feasible and effective for treating breathlessness in patients with lung cancer.
Breathlessness on exertion is a common and troublesome complaint of individuals with restrictive lung disorders. In these adults, breathlessness contributes to physical activity-limitation and avoidance and an adverse health-related quality-of-life, often in a self-perpetuating cycle. It follows that alleviating dyspnea and improving exercise tolerance are among the principal goals in the management of adults with restrictive lung disorders. Nevertheless, effective management of breathlessness and physical activity-limitation remains an elusive goal for many healthcare providers and current therapies (e.g., antifibrotic agents, oxygen, exercise training) are only partially successful in this regard. Thus, research aimed at identifying breathlessness-specific medications to complement existing therapies for the management of physical activity-related breathlessness in restrictive lung disorders is timely and both clinically and physiologically relevant. The purpose of this randomized crossover study study is to examine the acute effects of two doses of inhaled nebulized furosemide (a loop diuretic) on the perception of breathlessness during laboratory-based cycle exercise in healthy, young men in the presence of an external thoracic restriction to mimic a 'mild' restrictive lung deficit. To this end, the investigators will compare the effects of inhaled 0.9% saline placebo and inhaled furosemide (40 mg and 120 mg) on detailed assessments of breathlessness (sensory intensity and affective responses) and its physiological determinants (ventilation, breathing pattern, dynamic operating lung volumes, cardio-metabolic function) symptom-limited, high-intensity, constant-work-rate cycle exercise testing with external thoracic restriction sufficient to mimic a 'mild' restrictive pulmonary deficit in healthy, men aged 18-40 years.
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic progressive lung disease of unknown cause for which there is no effective medical treatment. The main symptoms are increasing breathlessness and cough which can significantly impact on quality of life (QOL) often leading to anxiety and depression. The focus of disease management is shifting from pharmacological attempts to reduce disease progression to managing symptoms and a more holistic approach. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is increasingly used to treat anxiety and depression in chronic disease. Our investigators aim to determine whether CBT can reduce anxiety and depression related to symptoms and improve QOL in patients with IPF. This study will compare CBT intervention (Group 1) against standard treatment (Group 2). Patients will be recruited from a specialist IPF clinic - all patients attending with IPF who suffer from anxiety will be eligible to participate in the study. The study aims to recruit 30 patients (15 in each group). Patients will be randomly allocated into each group using an envelope concealment system. At entry a baseline visit will be conducted with information gathered regarding disease severity, hospital admissions, medication, symptoms (subjective and objective), quality of life and anxiety and depression using questionnaires and routine clinical tests. Patients will then receive CBT intervention (Group 1) or no intervention (Group 2). Patients receiving CBT will undergo a maximum of 6 (minimum of 2) individual therapy sessions. Follow up visits for both groups will be conducted at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months with the same information gathered as at the baseline visit.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the suitability and practicality of a coaching and support intervention in helping patients to use daily strategies for managing breathlessness. Also, the investigators will try to understand how useful it is in helping patients to reduce intensity of breathlessness and its impact their quality of life.
The specific aims of this translational, interdisciplinary, multi-center, international research study with 300 Lung cancer patients are to: Aim 1 Explore how the patients experience the transfer between different locations and between different levels of care at the same location and how they experienced coming home. Aim 2 Explore lung cancer patients' symptoms, symptom clusters, and changes in symptoms and symptom clusters over time. Aim 3 Explore interaction between lung cancers patients' symptoms, symptom clusters, health related quality of life and social support.