Palliative care in COPD patients: is it only an end-of-life issue?

This paper outlines the methodology and findings of a systematic literature review related to palliative care conversations between patients and their doctors. The results show that while more than half of patients are interested in pursuing these conversations, they are not happening with comparable frequency. In addition, palliative care conversations appear to take place when patients are quite sick or presenting with advanced disease rather than when they are more stable. Patients with COPD also report finding the quality of these conversations to be inadequate. Additional findings, including topics often and rarely addressed, are discussed.