Table 1.
Baseline Patient Characteristicsa
| BiPAP (n=14) n (%)b |
High Flow Oxygen (n=16) n (%)b |
All patients (N=30) n (%)b |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Average age (range) | 63 (47–79) | 59 (29–79) | 61 (29–79) |
| Female sex | 6 (43) | 10 (63) | 16 (53) |
| Race | |||
| Caucasian | 11 (79) | 12 (75) | 23 (77) |
| Black | 3 (21) | 3 (19) | 6 (20) |
| Hispanic | 0 | 1 (6) | 1 (3) |
| Cancer type | |||
| Breast | 2 (14) | 3 (19) | 5 (17) |
| Gastrointestinal | 1 (7) | 2 (13) | 3 (10) |
| Genitourinary | 1 (7) | 0 | 1 (3) |
| Head and neck | 0 | 1 (6) | 1 (3) |
| Lung | 6 (43) | 7 (44) | 13 (43) |
| Other | 4 (29) | 3 (19) | 7 (23) |
| Cancer stage | |||
| Metastatic | 12 (86) | 14 (88) | 26 (87) |
| Locally advanced | 2 (14) | 2 (12) | 4 (13) |
| ECOG Performance Status | |||
| 3 | 13 (93) | 14 (88) | 27 (90) |
| 4 | 1 (7) | 2 (12) | 3 (10) |
| Cancer Dyspnea Scale, median (IQR) | |||
| Effort | 8 (5–10) | 8 (7–13) | 8 (5–12) |
| Anxiety | 5 (3–8) | 7 (2–10) | 7 (3–9) |
| Discomfort | 6 (5–7) | 5 (4–9) | 5 (4–8) |
| Total | 31 (27–37) | 37 (27–42) | 34 (27–40) |
| Dyspnea NRS over the last 2 weeks, median (IQR) | 8 (7–9) | 8 (6–8) | 8 (6–8) |
| Dyspnea NRS at the time of enrollment, median (IQR) | 7 (5–8) | 6 (4–8) | 7 (5–8) |
| Causes of dyspnea | |||
| Pulmonary parenchymal lesions | 10 (71) | 11 (69) | 21 (70) |
| Pleural effusion | 5 (36) | 10 (63) | 15 (50) |
| Lymphangitic carcinomatosis | 1 (7) | 1 (6) | 2 (7) |
| Other non-cancer causes, not already on home supplemental oxygen | 8 (57) | 13 (81) | 21 (70) |
| Comorbidities | |||
| COPD | 5 (36) | 5 (31) | 10 (33) |
| Heart failure | 0 (0) | 1 (6) | 1 (3) |
| Asthma | 1 (7) | 0 | 1 (3) |
| Bronchiectasis | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Concurrent therapies | |||
| Opioids | 12 (92) | 15 (94) | 27 (93) |
| Steroids | 7 (54) | 10 (63) | 17 (59) |
| Supplemental oxygen | 14 (100) | 12 (86) | 26 (93) |
| Previous experience with devices | |||
| BiPAP | 1 (7) | 2 (13) | 3 (10) |
| CPAP | 1 (7) | 2 (13) | 3 (10) |
| None | 12 (86) | 12 (86) | 24 (80) |
BiPAP = bilevel positive airway pressure; IQR = interquartile range; COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CPAP = continuous positive airway pressure; ECOG = Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; NRS = numeric rating scale.
a
One patient assigned to receive BiPAP was mistakenly started on HFO, and was reported here in the HFO group
b
Unless otherwise specified.