ArticleInternational journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease2018
Do patients and carers agree on symptom burden in advanced COPD?
Article in International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- BreathCarer: Informal carers of patients with chronic breathlessness: a mixed-methods systematic review of burden, needs, coping, and support interventions.BMC palliative care · 2025Pooled it
- Support and Its Effect for Persons Affected by COPD and Their Next of Kin - an Systematic Integrative Review.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2025Pooled it
- Unmet needs of older spousal caregivers for older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the context of dual ageing: a scoping review.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Patient-Caregiver Dyads in Severe and Advanced COPD: Relationships, Caregiving Burden, and Intervention Support: A Narrative Review.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2026Review
- Sociodemographic and Clinical Variables Related to the Overburden of the Informal Caregivers of Patients Hospitalized for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2021Article
- Two faces of the same coin: a qualitative study of patients' and carers' coexistence with chronic breathlessness associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).BMC palliative care · 2020Article
- Frustrated Caring: Family Members' Experience of Motivating COPD Patients Towards Self-Management.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2020Article
- The experience of caregiver burden when being next of kin to a person with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A qualitative study.Chronic respiratory diseaseArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Objective: Accurate informal carer assessment of patient symptoms is likely to be valuable for decision making in managing the high symptom burden of COPD in the home setting. Few studies have investigated agreement between patients and carers in COPD. We aimed to assess agreement between patients and carers on symptoms, and factors associated with disagreement in a population-based sample of patients with advanced COPD. Patients and methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional analysis of data from 119 advanced COPD patients and their carers. Patients and carers separately rated symptoms on a 4-point scale. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and weighted Cohen's kappa determined differences in patient and carer scores and patient-carer agreement, respectively. We identified characteristics associated with incongruence using Spearman's rank correlation and Mann-Whitney Results: There were no significant differences between group-level patient and carer scores for any symptom. Patient-carer individual-level agreement was moderate for constipation (k=0.423), just below moderate for diarrhea (k=0.393) and fair for depression (k=0.341), fatigue (k=0.294), anxiety (k=0.289) and breathlessness (k=0.210). Estimation of greater patient symptom burden by carers relative to patients themselves was associated with non-spousal patient-carer relationship, non-cohabitating patients and carers, carer symptoms of anxiety and depression and more carer unmet support needs. Greater symptom burden estimation by the patient relative to the carer was associated with younger patients and longer duration of COPD. Conclusion: Overall, agreement between patients and carers was fair to moderate and was poorer for more subjective symptoms. There is a need to encourage open dialogue between patients and carers to promote shared understanding, help patients express themselves and encourage carers to draw attention to symptoms that patients do not report. The findings suggest a need to screen for and address both the psychological morbidities in patients with advanced COPD and their carers and unmet support needs in carers.
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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.