Chronic Respiratory Disease Research Group

Our study found that in a national survey of Australian adults, clinically important breathlessness was associated with greater health care use, reduced likelihood of being employed, and higher societal economic costs. Breathlessness is estimated to cost $12.2 billion in societal costs per year in Australia. There is a need for more work to improve the quality of life for people with breathlessness, including for people without formal diagnoses of diseases. Improving timely access to care and alleviating breathlessness early could support their ability to work, thereby reducing the societal impacts of breathlessness.

Funder: The Australian Centre for Airways disease Monitoring (ACAM), a unit of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, which conducted primary data collection for the National Breathlessness Survey receives investigator- initiated research grants provided by industry partners, including GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, and Novartis.

The BREATHE study aims to integrate a clinical decision support system (BREATHE CDSS) in the electronic health record to better identify and manage patients with breathlessness in primary care. The pragmatic implementation trial will be a cluster randomised controlled 2-arm trial in 40 primary care sites. Practices will be recruited from urban and rural areas.

Funder: 2021 MRFF Chronic Respiratory Conditions Grant

The BREATHE SMART study aims to develop and test an automated system that identifies at-risk patients with breathlessness to improve outcomes for patients with the condition. This system will be tested along with the BREATHE CDSS in a cluster randomised controlled trial in urban and rural Australia.

Funder: 2023 MRFF Clinician Researchers – Applied Research in Health Grant

This trial led by collaborators in the United Kingdom will compare the performance of primary care clinicians in the interpretation of real-world spirometry with or without AI spirometry decision support software reports.

Funder: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through an AI Award in Health and Care (Phase 3- Application: Grant number AI_AWARD02204)

We worked with consumers, clinicians, and research partner organisations to improve understanding of breathlessness, and develop patient resources which are the first in what is planned to be a series of items to raise awareness, improve outcomes for patients with the condition, and reduce provider burden in managing it.

Funder: Maridulu Budyari Gumal, the Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise (SPHERE)

We worked with other experts on breathlessness as part of the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) to develop a world-first desktop helper that offers practical steps to primary care clinicians for the assessment and management of adults with long-term (chronic) distressing and disabling breathlessness. It aims to improve the consultation both for the individual and the clinician and offers practical ways to deal with this difficult symptom.

Funder: International Primary Care Respiratory Group

We conducted one of the first meta-analyses as part of a living review to look at how COVID-19 affects people with asthma which provides reassurance that having the condition doesn't increase the risk of severe illness or death from the virus. This has informed messaging by Asthma Australia, the US Centers for Disease Control and many other guideline groups.

Funder: Asthma Australia