Activities forgone because of chronic breathlessness: a cross-sectional, population prevalence study

BackgroundChronic breathlessness is a prevalent, disabling syndrome affecting many people for years. Identifying the impact of chronic breathlessness on people’s activities in the general population is pivotal for designing symptom management strategies. ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the association between chronic breathlessness and activities respondents identify can no longer be undertaken (‘activities foregone’). DesignThis population-based, cross sectional, online survey used a market research company’s database of 30,000 registrants for each sex, generating the planned sample size - 3,000 adults reflecting Australia’s 2016 Census by sex, age group, state of residence and rurality. Setting/Subjects The population of focus (n=583) reported a modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) breathlessness scale >1 and experienced this breathlessness for >3 months. MeasurementsActivities forgone were categorised by mMRC using coding derived from the Dyspnea Management Questionnaire domains. Activities were classified as ‘higher/lower intensity’ using Human Energy Expenditure scale.ResultsRespondents were: male 50.3%; median age 50.0 (IQR 29.0); with 66% living in metropolitan areas; reporting 1,749 activities forgone. For people with mMRC 1 (n=533), 35% had not given up any activity, decreasing to 9% for mMRC 2 (n=38) and 3% for mMRC 3-4 (n=12). Intense sport (e.g. jogging, bike riding) was the top activity forgone: 42% (mMRC 1); 32% (mMRC 2); and 36% (mMRC 3-4). For respondents with mMRC 3-4, the next most prevalent activities foregone were ‘sexual activities’ (14%); ‘lower intensity sports’ (11%) and ‘other activities’ (11%).ConclusionsPeople progressively reduce a wide range of activities because of their chronic breathlessness