Battery operated fan and chronic breathlessness: Does it help?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Battery operated fan and chronic breathlessness

T2 - Does it help?

AU - Barnes-Harris, Matilda

AU - Allgar, Victoria

AU - Booth, Sara

AU - Currow, David

AU - Hart, Simon

AU - Phillips, Jane

AU - Swan, Flavia

AU - Johnson, Miriam J.

N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

PY - 2019/5/8

Y1 - 2019/5/8

N2 - Objectives: To examine whether use of a hand-held fan (â € fan') improves breathlessness and increases physical activity. Methods: A secondary exploratory analysis using pooled data from the fan arms of two feasibility randomised controlled trials in people with chronic breathlessness: (1) fan and activity advice vs activity advice, (2) activity advice alone or with the addition or the â € calming hand', or the fan, or both. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis to explore patient characteristics associated with benefit (eg age, sex, diagnosis, general self-efficacy). Results: Forty-one participants were allocated the fan (73 years (IQR 65-76, range 46-88), 59% male, 20 (49%) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), three (7%) heart failure, three (7%) cancer). Thirty-five (85%) reported that the fan helped breathing, and 22 (54%) reported increased physical activity. Breathlessness benefit was more likely in older people, those with COPD and those with a carer. However, due to the small sample size none of these findings were statistically significant. Those with COPD were more likely to use the fan than people with other diagnoses (OR 5.94 (95% CI 0.63 to 56.21, p=0.120)). Conclusions: These exploratory data support that the fan helps chronic breathlessness in most people and adds new data to indicate that the fan is perceived to increase people's physical activity. There is also a signal of possible particular benefits in people with COPD which is worthy of further study.

AB - Objectives: To examine whether use of a hand-held fan (â € fan') improves breathlessness and increases physical activity. Methods: A secondary exploratory analysis using pooled data from the fan arms of two feasibility randomised controlled trials in people with chronic breathlessness: (1) fan and activity advice vs activity advice, (2) activity advice alone or with the addition or the â € calming hand', or the fan, or both. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis to explore patient characteristics associated with benefit (eg age, sex, diagnosis, general self-efficacy). Results: Forty-one participants were allocated the fan (73 years (IQR 65-76, range 46-88), 59% male, 20 (49%) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), three (7%) heart failure, three (7%) cancer). Thirty-five (85%) reported that the fan helped breathing, and 22 (54%) reported increased physical activity. Breathlessness benefit was more likely in older people, those with COPD and those with a carer. However, due to the small sample size none of these findings were statistically significant. Those with COPD were more likely to use the fan than people with other diagnoses (OR 5.94 (95% CI 0.63 to 56.21, p=0.120)). Conclusions: These exploratory data support that the fan helps chronic breathlessness in most people and adds new data to indicate that the fan is perceived to increase people's physical activity. There is also a signal of possible particular benefits in people with COPD which is worthy of further study.

KW - airflow

KW - breathlessness

KW - dyspnoea

KW - fan

KW - physical activity

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065520496&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1136/bmjspcare-2018-001749

DO - 10.1136/bmjspcare-2018-001749

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85065520496

SN - 2045-435X

JO - BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care

JF - BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care

ER -