Table 1.
Brief description of the included studies
| Studies | Recruitment duration [month] | Region | Setting | Age distribution of study sample | Female (%) | Data assessment | Inclusion criteria | Exclusion criteria | Answered research questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burri, 2012 | --- | Germany + Switzerland | 29 primary care physicians | Median age: 72 years | 53.9 | prospective | - all patients presented with dyspnoea as their primary symptom | - < 18 years | 2b + 3c |
| - obvious traumatic cause of dyspnoea | |||||||||
| - Dyspnoea had to be of new onset or clearly worsening if preexisting | - severe renal disease [defined by a serum | ||||||||
| creatinine level of more than 250 μmol /L−1 (2.8 mg/dL−1) | |||||||||
| - sepsis | |||||||||
| Charles, 2005 (BEACH Program) | 72 | Australien | 6021 general practitioners | <5 years: 3.0 % | 53.2 | retrospective | - all documented patients with shortness of breath | --- | 1a + 2b |
| 5–14 years: 3.3 % | |||||||||
| 15–24 years: 4.6 % | |||||||||
| 25–44 years:10.8 % | |||||||||
| 45–64 years: 21.2 % | |||||||||
| 65–74 years: 21.7 % | |||||||||
| 75+ years: 35.3 % | |||||||||
| Frese, 2011 (SESAM Study) | 12 | Germany | 270 general practitioners | Mean age: 51.2 years, SD +/−20.86 | 56.9 | prospective | - all patients with a direct (face to face) GP contact; independent from consultation reason | none | 1a + 2b |
| Median age: 55 years | |||||||||
| Nielsen, 2001 | 11.5 | Denmark | 74 general practitioners | Mean age: 63.0 years | 47.7 | prospective | - all patients with dyspnoea of at least 2 weeks duration | - patients with dyspnoea of at least less 2 weeks duration | 2b + 3c |
| Nielsen, 2003 | 24 | Denmark | 74 general practitioners | Median age: 65.0 years | 49.0 | prospective | - all patients with dyspnoea of at least 2 weeks duration | - patients with dyspnoea of at least less 2 weeks duration | 2b |
| Okkes, 2002 | 12–120 (mean: 2.4 years) | Netherlands | 54 family physicians | --- | 56.5 | prospective | - all patients with a direct (face to face) GP contact; independent from consultation reason | none | 1a + 2b |
| Frese, 2011 (Transition Projectd) |
aFirst research question: Prevalence of the consulting reason dyspnoea at general practice
bSecond research question: Aetiology of the consulting reason dyspnoea at general practice
cThird research question: Prognosis of the consulting reason dyspnoea at general practice
dBoth studies from Frese and Okkes published data from the Transitions Project persist. Due to the more detailed data presentation, we extracted the data from the article from Frese et al