TY - JOUR
T1 - Persisting breathlessness and activities reduced or ceased
T2 - a population study in older men
AU - Kochovska, Slavica
AU - Currow, David
AU - Chang, Sungwon
AU - Johnson, Miriam
AU - Ferreira, Diana
AU - Morgan, Deidre
AU - Olsson, Max
AU - Ekström, Magnus
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Authors. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/5/20
Y1 - 2022/5/20
N2 - Introduction Breathlessness is debilitating and increases in prevalence with age, with people progressively reducing their everyday activities to self-manage' it. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of breathlessness on function in terms of activities that have been reduced or ceased (compromised') in older men. Methods A cross-sectional postal survey of Swedish 73-year-old man in the VAScular and Chronic Obstructive Lung disease study self-reporting on demographics, breathlessness (modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale, Dyspnoea-12, Multidimensional Dyspnea Scale) and its duration, anxiety/depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), performance status (WHO Performance Status), everyday activities reduced/ceased and exertion. Results 148/828 (17.9%) respondents reported breathlessness (mMRC >2), of whom 51.9% had reduced/ceased activities compared with 9.6% who did not. Physical activity was the most common activity reduced/ceased (48.0%) followed by sexual activity (41.2%) and social activities (37.8%). Of 16.0% of respondents with mMRC 3-4 talking on the phone was affected compared with only 2.9% of respondents with mMRC 2. Worsening breathlessness was associated with increasingly sedentary lifestyles and more limited function, those reporting reduced/ceased activities had an associated increase in reporting anxiety and depression. In adjusted analyses, breathlessness was associated with increased likelihood of activities being ceased overall as well as physical and sexual activities being affected separately. Conclusion Worsening breathlessness was associated with decreasing levels of self-reported physical activity, sexual activity and function. Overall, the study showed that people with persisting breathlessness modify their lifestyle to avoid it by reducing or ceasing a range of activities, seeking to minimise their exposure to the symptom.
AB - Introduction Breathlessness is debilitating and increases in prevalence with age, with people progressively reducing their everyday activities to self-manage' it. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of breathlessness on function in terms of activities that have been reduced or ceased (compromised') in older men. Methods A cross-sectional postal survey of Swedish 73-year-old man in the VAScular and Chronic Obstructive Lung disease study self-reporting on demographics, breathlessness (modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale, Dyspnoea-12, Multidimensional Dyspnea Scale) and its duration, anxiety/depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), performance status (WHO Performance Status), everyday activities reduced/ceased and exertion. Results 148/828 (17.9%) respondents reported breathlessness (mMRC >2), of whom 51.9% had reduced/ceased activities compared with 9.6% who did not. Physical activity was the most common activity reduced/ceased (48.0%) followed by sexual activity (41.2%) and social activities (37.8%). Of 16.0% of respondents with mMRC 3-4 talking on the phone was affected compared with only 2.9% of respondents with mMRC 2. Worsening breathlessness was associated with increasingly sedentary lifestyles and more limited function, those reporting reduced/ceased activities had an associated increase in reporting anxiety and depression. In adjusted analyses, breathlessness was associated with increased likelihood of activities being ceased overall as well as physical and sexual activities being affected separately. Conclusion Worsening breathlessness was associated with decreasing levels of self-reported physical activity, sexual activity and function. Overall, the study showed that people with persisting breathlessness modify their lifestyle to avoid it by reducing or ceasing a range of activities, seeking to minimise their exposure to the symptom.
KW - perception of asthma/breathlessness
KW - respiratory measurement
U2 - 10.1136/bmjresp-2021-001168
DO - 10.1136/bmjresp-2021-001168
M3 - Article
C2 - 35606021
AN - SCOPUS:85130501797
SN - 2052-4439
VL - 9
JO - BMJ Open Respiratory Research
JF - BMJ Open Respiratory Research
IS - 1
M1 - e001168
ER -