Words used by the breathless patient in COPD and enhancing therapeutic care

Lifestyle, modern living and suffering through health and disease have come to influence our ife expectancy, understanding human processes and pathophysiology are fundamental to improving life experiences and ensuring continuing health. Respiratory conditions in particular are at the centre of healthcare currently as a result of COVID-19.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a debilitating disease of the lower airways of the respiratory system and is a leading cause of death (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, 2020). Most experiencing a breathing problem will invariably use verbal communication to describe their experiences. COPD affects all aspects of day-to-day life and an exacerbation inevitably involves breathlessness. In 1908, Hill and Flack stated the following:

‘There is no more frightening and unpleasant feeling than that of feeling breathlessness and the sense of impending death’.

Over a century later, this statement still stands. So what exactly is ‘breathlessness’ and can service users in prehospital care accurately convey the meaning of such? Do health professionals realise the implications of the verbal descriptors used, and can such words be used to facilitate best practice?