Breathlessness in the UK is more common among ethnically diverse and low-income groups. Research studies on managing breathlessness aim to develop interventions to meet the needs of the UK’s increasingly diverse populations. However, the recruitment of ethnically diverse underserved communities to these studies is low, both locally and nationally.

In the past two years, three breathlessness studies at King's College Hospital recruited 123 participants, but only 12% were from ethnically diverse groups. This does not reflect the diversity of the local area where the latest Census shows that 45% of Lambeth and 49% of Southwark residents are non-white. 

ARC researcher Dr Sabrina Bajwah, clinical senior lecturer and honorary consultant in palliative care, based at the Cicely Saunders Institute at King’s College London, who is leading the study says:

Recruitment to research on breathlessness must better reflect the local population, especially the people most likely to be living with chronic breathlessness. Otherwise, we risk developing interventions that do not meet the needs of the most vulnerable in society and may contribute to widening inequality

Dr Sabrina Bajwah, clinical senior lecturer and honorary consultant in palliative care, King’s College London

How our research will address this problem

Routinely collected data from King’s College Hospital can provide insights on local breathless patients and their service use, helping to inform interventions and plan for future care delivery. But currently this data is not examined for needs and inequalities. Nor is it used to support diverse recruitment to trials.

In this study ARC researchers will analyse anonymised data from the electronic patient records at King’s College Hospital to describe trends, transitions, and inequalities for adult patients with breathlessness in south London. They will analyse data for adults with an emergency admission to King’s College Hospital for breathlessness between 1 January 2012 to the present day.

Specific aims of the research are:

  • Describe emergency admissions for breathlessness by age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, language, and religion, including the intersection between these characteristics.
  • Use this data to inform recruitment targets for an upcoming NIHR-funded breathlessness trial at King's College Hospital
  • Develop a 'blueprint' for using patient record data to support future breathlessness trials
  • Describe 10-year trends in emergency admissions for breathlessness by age, sex, ethnicity, and deprivation
  • Describe transitions of breathlessness patients from A&E to different hospital services by age, sex, ethnicity and deprivation.

Our study will focus on the needs of ethnically diverse groups, examining links with poverty. It will describe any inequality in access and service provision. The data produced can be used to direct and adapt services. Better understanding patient populations and their experiences is key to developing interventions that work for all

Dr Sabrina Bajwah, clinical senior lecturer and honorary consultant in palliative care, King’s College London

Our collaborators:

We are collaborating with NIHR South London Clinical Research Network. 

The project is expected to finish in October 2024. 

Find out more 

Meet the project lead

Dr Sabrina Bajwah

Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Palliative Care, Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, King's College London

Related content