Although the prevalence of dyspnea was at least as high as that of pain, the detection and treatment of moderate to severe dyspnea were more inconsistent than for pain among critically ill patients in the ICU, according to data published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

This study was undertaken as a result of concerns harbored by directors of the medical ICU at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital about the lack of detection and proper management of dyspnea in the ICU, according to Holly G. Prigerson, PhD, Irving Sherwood Wright Professor in Geriatrics, professor of sociology in medicine and co-director of the Cornell Center for Research on End-of-Life Care.

Read More