Doctors’ Attitudes to Palliation and Palliative Care in Patients with Advanced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Patients with severe Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may experience distressing symptoms and reduced quality of life, therefore many international COPD guidelines recommend palliative care and advance care planning (ACP) together with disease-directed care [1, 2]. However, COPD patients rarely discuss ACP and infrequently access any specialist palliative care, with doctors' attitudes and poor communication reported as barriers [3-6]. Junior doctors working in tertiary medical care commonly manage, under consultant supervision, COPD patients who are approaching the end of life, and it is therefore essential they understand the importance of ACP and palliative care for these patients.

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