Nursing interventions to promote dyspnea self-management of complex chronic patients: An integrated review.

This is an integrative review of heterogeneous studies, so it cannot tell you how much any single intervention helps. The included studies differed in design, patient condition, intervention components and outcomes, which makes direct comparison difficult. Most included studies were moderate quality, two were low quality, and randomized trials often lacked blinding. Many interventions bundled education, medication, breathing exercises, monitoring and follow-up, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. Some included studies found no significant difference in shortness of breath or walk distance, so positive findings are not consistent. The review included only 18 studies and excluded systematic reviews, protocol studies, opinion articles, comments and editorials, which may limit coverage.

The authors declared no competing interests. No funding source is stated in the supplied text.

Do not conclude that nurse-led self-management programs reliably reduce breathlessness. This review included heterogeneous studies, most were moderate quality, and some trials found no significant difference in shortness of breath or walk distance.