Patient experiences during treatment with opioids in COPD in palliative phase; A scoping review.

<bold>Background:</bold> COPD is the world's fourth most frequent cause of death, and the burden of symptoms are comparable to patients with lung cancer. The need for palliative treatment in patients with severe COPD is not recognized. Apart from disease-specific treatment in patients with COPD, opioids are the best documented measure for dyspnea. <bold>Aims:</bold> To examine the experiences of patients with COPD when using opioids as symptom relief in the palliative phase. <bold>Method:</bold> This study is a summary of knowledge using a scoping review as a method. A systematic search was performed in CINAHL, Cochrane, Epistemonikos, Embase and Medline in the period from 21 August to 16 December 2022. Ethical considerations were made in the form of approval from ethics committee. <bold>Results:</bold> A total of 881 articles were revealed in the literature search. 14 articles were included in the study. Four descriptive themes were identified: 1. Patient characteristics, 2. Patients knowledge of opioids, 3. Patients positive experiences with using opioids, and 4. Patients negative experiences with using opioids. Positive experiences such as improvement in dyspnea, activity level and generally better quality of life were reported. The most frequently reported negative experience was side effects, such as constipation, nausea, and fatigue. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> Healthcare professionals must be aware that patients with severe COPD in the palliative phase have different experiences when it comes to treatment with opioids. To meet the challenges of patients with severe COPD in the palliative phase, further research on experiences with the use of opioids is necessary.