Overview
- Researchers analyzed nearly 10,000 adult admissions at a Boston medical center from 2014 to 2016, publishing the findings in ERJ Open Research.
- Patients who developed new or worsening shortness of breath during their stay had about a sixfold higher risk of dying in hospital, while breathlessness on arrival was linked to roughly a threefold increase.
- Breathless patients were more likely to require rapid response team involvement and transfers to intensive care units.
- Breathlessness also signaled poorer long-term outcomes, including about a 50–70% higher two-year mortality and high six-month mortality when symptoms persisted at rest at discharge.
- Reported pain levels did not predict death, and respiratory experts are urging routine dyspnoea checks to guide monitoring and post-discharge follow-up.