Hospital Patients Experiencing Breathing Difficulties Face Sixfold Higher Risk of Death

A groundbreaking study by Harvard Medical School has identified a stark link between breathing difficulties reported during hospital admission or stay and an increased risk of death and serious health complications. Patients experiencing severe breathing issues, medically known as dyspnoea, are up to six times more likely to die compared to those without such symptoms.

Dyspnoea, or shortness of breath, affects approximately one in ten hospital admissions. This distressing symptom, often described as labored breathing or a sensation of suffocation, significantly impacts patient outcomes. Alarmingly, a quarter of patients who experienced breathlessness even while at rest died within six months of discharge.

The research, published in the ERJ Open Research journal and led by Associate Professor Robert Banzett of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, emphasizes the importance of recognizing and tracking this symptom. “Dyspnoea is a profoundly unpleasant sensation,” said Banzett. “Despite nurses regularly assessing pain levels, breathlessness is rarely measured in the same way during hospitalization.”

In the study, nearly 10,000 patients were asked by nursing staff to rate their shortness of breath twice daily on a zero-to-ten scale, similar to pain assessments. The results showed that while pain levels did not correlate strongly with mortality, breathlessness scores were a powerful predictor of patient outcomes.

This discovery suggests that routinely asking patients to assess their shortness of breath could help healthcare professionals identify those at highest risk and tailor care more effectively. Professor Banzett stresses, “Dyspnoea is not a death sentence—most patients survive hospitalization and beyond. However, a simple, quick, and cost-effective assessment of this symptom can improve individualized care and management of this often frightening condition.”