INTRODUCTION
chronic breathlessness, fits, breathlessness, cancer or cardiorespiratory disease
DISEASE
Chronic breathlessness is a common, distressing symptom with a prevalence of 9%–11% in the general population,Despite the impact breathlessness has on quality of life,Evidence about patients’ experiences while awaiting diagnosis and clinicians’ experiences of managing the diagnostic challenges of chronic breathlessness in primary care is lacking. Previous literature has described the experiences of patients living with breathlessness in specific disease conditions, commonly cancer or cardiorespiratory disease.How this fits inChallenges for clinicians around achieving a diagnosis include the complex multimorbidity of breathlessness,To develop diagnostic pathways to reduce delays to diagnosis and treatment, and to improve outcomes for patients, this study aimed to explore current usual care from the experiences of patients living with breathlessness seeking health care, and from primary care clinicians involved in the diagnostic process.