SynthesisBMC family practice2015
Studies of the symptom dyspnoea: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC family practice, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 4 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled 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
- Prevalence, aetiologies and prognosis of the symptom cough in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC family practice · 2021Pooled it
- Coughing children in family practice and primary care: a systematic review of prevalence, aetiology and prognosis.BMC pediatrics · 2021Pooled it
- Prevalence, aetiologies and prognosis of the symptom dizziness in primary care - a systematic review.BMC family practice · 2018Pooled it
- Point-of-care ultrasound improves the diagnosis of heart failure in patients with dyspnea in primary care.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Managing breathlessness for people with advanced respiratory disease.ERJ open research · 2025Review
- Exploring expressed concerns and uncanny feeling in patients with shortness of breath calling out-of-hours primary care.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Prevalence of dyspnoea and usage of opioids in managing dyspnoea in advanced cancer patients: a longitudinal observational multi-centre study from India.Ecancermedicalscience · 2022Article
- Observational
- [Dyspnea : A challenging symptom in the primary care setting].Der Internist · 2020Review
- The Integrated Dyspnea Clinic: An Evaluation of Efficiency.International journal of integrated care · 2018Article
- High Prevalence of Dyspnea in Lung Cancer: An Observational Study.Indian journal of palliative careArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo deal with patients suffering from dyspnoea, it is crucial for general practitioners to know the prevalences of different diseases causing dyspnoea in the respective area and season, the likelihood of avoidable life-threatening conditions and of worsening or recovery from disease.
aimAim of our project was to conduct a systematic review of symptom-evaluating studies on the prevalence, aetiology, and prognosis of dyspnoea as presented to GPs in a primary care setting.
methodsWe did a systematic review of symptom-evaluating studies on dyspnoea in primary care. For this we included all studies investigating the complaint "dyspnoea" as a primary or secondary consulting reason in general practice. Apart from qualitative studies, all kind of study designs independent from type of data assessment, outcome measurement or study quality were included. Symptom-evaluating studies from other settings than primary care and studies which exclusively included children (age <18 years) were excluded from the review. Studies selecting patients prior to recruitment, e.g. because of an increased probability for a particular diagnosis, were also excluded.
resultsThis systematic review identified 6 symptom evaluating studies on dyspnoea in the primary care setting. The prevalence of dyspnoea as reason for consultation ranges from 0.87 to 2.59 % in general practice. Among all dyspnoea patients 2.7 % (CI 2.2-3.3) suffer from pneumonia. Further specification of underlying aetiologies seems difficult due to the studies' heterogeneity showing a great variety of probabilities.
conclusionThere is a great lack of empirical evidence on the prevalence, aetiology and prognosis of dyspnoea in general practice. This might yield uncertainty in diagnosis and evaluation of dyspnoea in primary care.
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.