Review: walking aids, chest-wall vibration, and neuroelectrical muscle stimulation relieve breathlessness in COPD
C Bausewein
Dr C Bausewein, King’s College London, London, UK; claudia.bausewein@kcl.ac.uk
QUESTION
In advanced disease, do non-pharmacological and non-invasive interventions relieve breathlessness?
REVIEW SCOPE
Studies selected evaluated non-pharmacological or non-invasive interventions for breathlessness in patients with dyspnoea because of advanced lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), interstitial lung disease, chronic heart failure, or motor neurone disease. Outcomes included subjective measures of breathlessness.
REVIEW METHODS
Medline; EMBASE/Excerpta Medica; CINAHL; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; Cochrane Pain, Palliative, and Supportive Care Trials Register; Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews; and 5 other databases (all to Jun 2007); websites; and reference lists were searched. Authors were contacted. 45 randomised controlled …
