Palliative care outcome measures in COPD patients: a conceptual review

In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), palliative care is appropriate in very advanced stages based on recognition of its need when conventional therapy is no longer able to control symptoms, disease morbidity, or to improve/maintain an acceptable quality of life. Palliative care aims to improve quality of life, or, if applied specifically at the end-of-life, to ensure comfortable care. In COPD palliative care effectiveness of interventions should be quantified with outcome measures able to better capture the holistic nature of approaches and not only the specific features of disease. These should include: physical outcomes, psychological outcomes, social outcomes, spiritual outcomes. Such measures are discussed in this review along with arguments supporting their use.