The roles of dispositional coping style and social support in helping people with respiratory disease cope with a breathlessness crisis.

Aim: To explore the role of coping moderators in self-management of breathlessness crises by people with advanced respiratory disease.

Design: A secondary analysis of semi-structured interview data.

Methods: Interviews with patients who had advanced respiratory disease, chronic breathlessness and at least one experience where they considered presenting to Emergency but self-managed instead (a "near miss").