By ensuring all health professionals can diagnose and treat the condition – this will have a direct impact on a patient’s wellbeing.
A basic assessment of patients can result in them managing their breathlessness more effectively and can change the threshold at which breathlessness leads to them giving up the things they enjoy doing.
‘Asking patients a simple question: ‘What have you given up to manage your breathlessness?’ can make a difference to understanding the issues they face and how improvements can be made,’ said Professor Johnson.
‘It is important that, following the classification of Chronic Breathless Syndrome, we make sure that all doctors and nurses caring for these patients, whether in hospital or the GP surgery, are aware of treatments for breathlessness and that those treatments are available across the country.’
Professor Julie Jomeen, Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, said:
‘We are committed to making a major impact on improving health provision at a local, national and international level.
‘Professor Johnson’s work to classify and raise awareness of chronic breathlessness will have significant benefits in the treatment and wellbeing of patients.
‘Recognition for this clinical syndrome will enable us to train our students to give the best possible care to those suffering from this debilitating condition.’
Read the paper on the European Respiratory Journal.