dyspnea is a common clinical manifestation. According to foreign literature, 9% to 13% of community adults have mild to moderate dyspnea symptoms, 15% to 18% of people aged ≥40 years and 25% to 37% of people aged ≥70 years have dyspnea symptoms. Every year, there are 3 million to 4 million emergency visits for dyspnea in the United States. Studies have shown that dyspnea is one of the causes of hospitalization and death from cardiopulmonary diseases, and it is closely related to 5-year survival rate in some diseases, and it is more obviously related to death from heart diseases. The etiology of dyspnea involves respiration, circulation, digestion, nerve, blood, spirit and other systems. Differential diagnosis requires systematic and scientific clinical thinking methods. Because it is often misdiagnosed in clinical diagnosis and treatment, it is very important to improve the diagnosis and treatment level of dyspnea. The American Thoracic Association (ATS) published expert consensus on dyspnea in 1999 and 2012[1,2]。 At present, there is still insufficient research on the diagnosis and management of dyspnea in China, especially there is no unified understanding of the definition, language expression, evaluation and diagnosis process of dyspnea. Therefore, Beijing Physician Branch of Chinese Medical Doctors Association organized relevant experts to write this consensus after careful discussion with reference to ATS related documents and important documents on dyspnea published in recent years, hoping to further unify the understanding of the definition, description, evaluation and treatment of dyspnea, and improve the diagnosis and treatment level of dyspnea.
