Consensus palliative care referral criteria for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: People with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have substantial palliative care needs, but uncertainty exists around appropriate identification of patients for palliative care referral.We conducted a Delphi study of international experts to identify consensus referral criteria for specialist outpatient palliative care for people with COPD.

Methods: Clinicians in the fields of respiratory medicine, palliative and primary care from five continents with expertise in respiratory medicine and palliative care rated 81 criteria over three Delphi rounds.