Patient, nurse and physician views of dyspnea

Dyspnea, the subjective sensation of laboured or difficult breathing, is a frequent complaint of patients with terminal disease. Among terminally ill cancer patients, for example, the incidence has been reported to be as high as 74 per cent. Dyspnea is multidimensional, having both physiological and psychological aspects, and, for most people, it worsens as the disease progresses. It is an extremely distressing symptom for both the patient and the family; virtually all dyspneic patients report anxiety or fear of suffocation, a fear that, in turn, exacerbates the dyspnea.