Exploring palliative care needs in older people with COPD v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring individual and contextual factors are taken into account when palliative care needs are identified in older people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
IRAS ID
271596
Contact name
Mike Bennett
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive condition characterized by airflow obstruction which ultimately kills many patients. The characteristic symptoms are worsening breathlessness and exercise limitation, and progressive deterioration of health status eventually leading to death. People living with advanced COPD often suffer from fatigue, dyspnea, anxiety, depression, insomnia and restricted mobility that require symptom-based palliative treatments.\nThe National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline states that patients with end-stage COPD and their families or carers should have access to the full range of palliative care (PC) offered by multidisciplinary teams. There is growing evidence that the use of PC in non-cancer diseases improve patients’ symptoms burden and quality of life, resulting in a consistent pattern of reduced health-care use. Despite the recommendation of national guideline and the burden of disease, PC is still underused and the vast majority of patients with advanced COPD are not offered PC. Evidence suggests that only one in five patients dying from COPD received PC in the UK. Among those, under half were offered PC during the last six months and one third only in their last month of life. The unpredictability of COPD in individuals, the difficulty of predicting survival, and the misconceptions of PC being only for patients with cancer often prevent a timely PC prevision for patients with advanced COPD.\nMultidisciplinary PC is needed that involves assessment and management of symptoms, patient and caregiver education, and sensitive communication to elicit preferences for care. However the frequency and quality of PC conversations are poor for patients with COPD. Successful implementation of PC requires initial steps of understanding individual and contextual factors influencing the access and delivery of PC that addresses patients’ needs.\n
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/YH/0358
Date of REC Opinion
4 Nov 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion