Non-pharmacological interventions for dyspnoea in lung cancer patients

Evaluating the effectiveness of a patient education program which includes breathing exercises and psychosocial support for helping patients with lung cancer to control their dyspnoea.

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12607000087459

Enrollment

144

Registered

2007-01-25

Start date

2008-03-13

Completion date

2011-01-13

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

The study aims to test the effectivenss of a patient education program whixch includes breathing exercises and psychosocial support for helping patients with lung cancer to control their dyspnoea. The study will test whether the intervention reduces a patient's feelings of breathlessness, improves their ability to funtion and minimises their emotional distress and in addition the study will examine the effectiveness over time. The information gained will provide more specific guidance to practitioners for targeting intervention approaches to each individual patient's needs.

Interventions

The enhanced non-pharmacological intervention group (ENPT) experience a 60 minute educational session on management of dyspnoea run by a registered nurse. Patients are then followed up with weekly phone calls for 3 weeks. The instruction is supplemented with a range of resources to reinforce intervention delivery and promote self managment.

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Educational / counselling / training

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Diagnosis: Patients diagnosed with small cell or non-small cell lung cancer; have completed first line therapy for their disease; have an average dyspnoea rating of >2 on 11 point numeric rating scale in the past week; have an aniticipated life expectancy of at least 3 months.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria:Demonstrated cognitive impairment that would prevent them from responding to a survey questionniare; have a life expectancy of less than 3 mths.

Outcome results