Chest
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Broad-scale adoption of spontaneous awakening trials (SATs) and spontaneous breathing trials (SBTs) into everyday practice has been slow, and uncertainty exists regarding what factors facilitate or impede their routine delivery. ⋯ There are a number of modifiable factors associated with SAT/SBT performance that are amenable to the development and testing of implementation interventions.
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Cough is a common symptom of interstitial lung disease (ILD) and negatively impacts health-related quality of life (QOL). Previous studies have shown that among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, cough may predict progression of lung disease and perhaps even respiratory hospitalizations and mortality. ⋯ Among a large population of well-characterized patients with ILD, cough-specific QOL was associated independently with respiratory hospitalization, death, and lung transplantation.
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The terms sex and gender often are used interchangeably, but have specific meaning when it comes to their effects on lung disease. Ample evidence is now available that sex and gender affect the incidence, susceptibility, presentation, diagnosis, and severity of many lung diseases. Some conditions are more prevalent in women, such as asthma. ⋯ Pathobiological mechanisms explaining sex differences in these diseases are beyond the scope of this article. We review the literature and focus on recent guidelines about using sex and gender in research. We also review sex and gender differences in lung diseases.
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The current approach to interpretation of lung function measurements assumes that differences in lung function between racial and ethnic groups represent inherent and biological differences. Observed differences in lung function between White and Black populations are often attributed to physiological differences in body proportions (eg, chest size, leg length); however, most studies investigating the observed differences have not considered the impact of socioeconomic status (SES). ⋯ Reproducible research aimed at explaining the etiology of the differences in lung function between populations is difficult to achieve. The evidence to support the use of race/ethnic specific equations is limited, and the practice needs to be re-evaluated.