Clinical trial NCT02728674: Management of Patients With Respiratory Symptoms in Sweden
Official title: Management of Patients With Respiratory Symptoms in Sweden
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Keywords: COPD
Breathlessness
Symptom
Opioids
Gender bias
Lead sponsor: Skane University Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2016-04-05
Enrollment: 134
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: DIAGNOSTIC

Brief summary: This is a web-based randomized survey to evaluate management of respiratory symptoms among physicians in Sweden. The aim of this study is to determine if there is a gender bias in the diagnosis of COPD and how often physicians identify that chronic refractory breathlessness requires treatment as compared to refractory pain.

Detailed description: BACKGROUND:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. An American randomized web-based study showed important differences in the diagnosis of COPD among female and male patients.Women were more likely to be misdiagnosed as chronic cough or asthma instead of COPD and physicians were more reluctant to refer further women for spirometry.This is of importance as treatment and follow-up differ between the conditions.

Breathlessness, a subjective experience of breathing discomfort, is the cardinal symptom of cardiac and pulmonary disease. In advanced COPD, 98% of patients experience breathlessness which persists at rest or on minimal exertion, despite optimal treatment of the underlying disease (chronic refractory breathlessness). Dyspnea is linked to reduced physical activity, worsening deconditioning, increased anxiety and depression, impaired quality of life, loss of the will to live near death, increased risk of hospitalization, and earlier death.

The preferred treatment for the relief of chronic refractory breathlessness is a systemic (oral or parenteral) low dose opioid (Level I evidence). In a recent meta-analysis of 16 studies (271 patients in total), low dose opioids reduced chronic refractory breathlessness in advanced COPD, without any reported serious adverse effects. Lower dose opioids were not associated with increased risk of admission to hospital or death in a large register-based Swedish study of 2,249 patients with oxygen-dependent COPD patients treated with lower dose opioids (≤ 30mg of oral morphine/day).

Despite the growing evidence that support the use of opioids, physicians are reluctant to prescribe low dose opioids for breathlessness in COPD. In a review of 2000 random dispensed opioid prescriptions among patients with advanced COPD, most of whom suffered from severe chronic breathlessness, the most common stated indication was pain (97%), with only 2% for breathlessness. In a survey, Dutch chest physicians were reluctant to prescribe opioids for refractory breathlessness in advanced COPD due to perceived resistance from the patient and fear of adverse effects, including respiratory depression. Qualitative studies from Canada has shown that physicians in pulmonary medicine and primary care, families and patients feel that low dose opioids can be helpful for the relief of breathlessness, but that treatment was delayed or avoided due to lack of guidelines, lack of related knowledge and experience about opioids, and fears related to the potential adverse effects and legal censure.

No randomized trial has compared how physicians assess and treat refractory breathlessness versus refractory pain, how often opioids are considered for treatment of breathlessness and what factors affect the choice of treatment in chronic breathlessness as compared to pain in advanced COPD. Furthermore, it remains unknown if there is a gender bias in the diagnosis of COPD among physicians treating COPD patients.

METHOD:

This is a randomized, triple-blind, parallel group-, web-based study based on a survey instrument which is answered by certified physicians who treat patients with respiratory problems in Sweden. The survey is based upon a hypothetical patient case which regards situations and considerations that are part of physicians' daily clinical management and treatment of COPD patients. Two randomizations take place regarding the hypothetical case 1) Sex 2) Symptom. The participant is shown a hypothetical patient case which is randomized (1:1:1:1) regarding sex and symptom to one of four potential case scenarios: man+breathlessness; man+pain; woman+breathlessness; or woman+pain.

AIM:

The aim of the study is to determine if there is a gender bias in the diagnosis of COPD; how often physicians identify that chronic refractory breathlessness requires treatment as compared to refractory pain, which symptomatic treatments are considered with focus on morphine; explore physicians perception regarding the grade of evidence for different treatments for the relief of chronic breathlessness; and examine which factors affect physicians decision to treat refractory breathlessness with opioids.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria (all required):

* Certified physician
* Treats patients with respiratory symptoms and reduced physical activity
* Able to read and understand a hypothetical case in Swedish

Exclusion Criteria:

* Knowledge about the aim and/or design of the study, or
* Previous participation in the study

Primary outcomes:
measure: COPD treatment in the Questionnaire
timeFrame: through study completion, up to 6 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Gender bias in COPD diagnosis in the Questionnaire
timeFrame: through study completion, up to 6 months
measure: Symptomatic treatment in the Questionnaire
timeFrame: through study completion, up to 6 months
Other outcomes:
measure: Non-randomized measurements in the Questionnaire
timeFrame: through study completion, up to 6 months
measure: Chosen evidence-grades as non-randomized measurements in the Questionnaire
timeFrame: through study completion, up to 6 months
measure: Chosen potential risks as non-randomized measurements in the Questionnaire
timeFrame: through study completion, up to 6 months
Locations:
city: Lund
country: Sweden
facility: Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology
state: Skane
Study officials:
affiliation: Department of Medicine, Blekinge Hospital, SE-37185 Karlskrona
name: Magnus Ekström, MD, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Ahmadi Z, Sandberg J, Shannon-Honson A, Vandersman Z, Currow DC, Ekstrom M. Is chronic breathlessness less recognised and treated compared with chronic pain? A case-based randomised controlled trial. Eur Respir J. 2018 Sep 15;52(3):1800887. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00887-2018. Print 2018 Sep.