Dyspnea coping strategies in Korean immigrants with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Patients with lung disease develop coping strategies to relieve dyspnea. The coping strategies of Korean immigrants, however, are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to describe the strategies that Korean immigrants with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) use to cope with dyspnea and to compare similarities and differences in coping strategies between the two conditions.

Outpatients with asthma (n = 25) or COPD (n = 48) participated in a cross-sectional descriptive study.

Open-ended questions and a structured instrument were used to describe coping strategies for dyspnea. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data.

The most prevalent strategy was "I keep still or rest." Korean immigrants also used traditional therapies to manage dyspnea.

Although the coping strategies of Korean immigrants were similar to those of other ethnic groups, they incorporated elements of Asian medical practice and herbs. This finding enables health care providers to better understand Korean immigrants' efforts to overcome dyspnea and to guide their patients' approach to coping.