ArticleBMC public health2011
Predictors of chronic breathlessness: a large population study.
Article in BMC public health, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03468205 (The Relating Experienced To Recalled Breathlessness Observational Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 43 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Relating Experienced To Recalled Breathlessness Observational Study
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global prevalence of dyspnoea: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence and correlates of breathlessness in adults: an umbrella review and updated systematic review with meta-analysis in general and clinical populations.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025Pooled it
- An official American Thoracic Society statement: update on the mechanisms, assessment, and management of dyspnea.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2012Guideline
- Investigating a structured diagnostic approach for chronic breathlessness in primary care: a mixed-methods feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial.BMJ open respiratory research · 2025Trial
- Manipulation of mechanical ventilatory constraint during moderate intensity exercise does not influence dyspnoea in healthy older men and women.The Journal of physiology · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Stimulus-dependent sex differences in dyspnoea: Mechanical loading vs. hypercapnia.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Ethnic differences in healthcare utilisation and diagnosis after first presentation with breathlessness: a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care records.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2026Article
- Global disparities in chronic dyspnoea prevalence in population-based studies: a comprehensive literature review.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Review
- Quality of life associated with breathlessness in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study: A cross-sectional analysis.Pulmonology · 2025Article
- Unexplained breathlessness: Integrating pathophysiological insights with clinical evaluation.Clinical medicine (London, England) · 2025Review
- Exertional breathlessness related to medical conditions in middle-aged people: the population-based SCAPIS study of more than 25,000 men and women.Respiratory research · 2024Article
- Thoughts on the end of life in patients with oxygen-dependent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A qualitative interview study.Nursing open · 2023Article
- The effect of unpredictability on the perception of breathlessness: a narrative review.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2023Review
- Which breathlessness dimensions associate most strongly with fatigue?-The population-based VASCOL study of elderly men.PloS one · 2023Article
- Characteristics and risk factors for post-COVID-19 breathlessness after hospitalisation for COVID-19.ERJ open research · 2023Article
- Sex differences in the ventilatory responses to exercise in mild to moderate obesity.Experimental physiology · 2022Article
- Validation of the Dyspnoea-12 and Multidimensional Dyspnea profile among older Swedish men in the population.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Lower workforce participation is associated with more severe persisting breathlessness.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2022Article
- Assessment and diagnosis of chronic dyspnoea: a literature review.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBreathlessness causes significant burden in our community but the underlying socio-demographic and lifestyle factors that may influence it are not well quantified. This study aims to define these predictors of chronic breathlessness at a population level.
methodsData were collected from adult South Australians in 2007 and 2008 (n = 5331) as part of a face-to-face, cross-sectional, whole-of-population, multi-stage, systematic area sampling population health survey. The main outcome variable was breathlessness in logistic regression models. Lifestyle factors examined included smoking history, smoke-free housing, level of physical activity and body mass index (obesity).
resultsThe participation rate was 64.1%, and 11.1% of individuals (15.0% if aged ≥50 years) chronically had breathlessness that limited exertion. Significant bivariate associations with chronic breathlessness for the whole population and only those ≥50 included: increasing age; female gender; being separated/divorced/widowed; social disadvantage; smoking status; those without a smoke-free home; low levels of physical activity; and obesity. In multi-variate analyses adjusted for age, marital status (p < 0.001), physical activity (p < 0.001), obesity (p < 0.001), gender (p < 0.05) and social disadvantage (p < 0.05) remained significant factors. Smoking history was not a significant contributor to the model.
conclusionsThere is potential benefit in addressing reversible lifestyle causes of breathlessness including high body mass index (obesity) and low levels of physical activity in order to decrease the prevalence of chronic breathlessness. Clinical intervention studies for chronic breathlessness should consider stratification by body mass index.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.