Predictors of Low-Level Disease-Specific Knowledge in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Disease-specific knowledge is associated with outcomes of patients, but the knowledge level of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients is known to be low.

We measured the level of disease-specific knowledge and defined factors associated with poor disease knowledge in COPD patients.

A cross-sectional survey was performed in five hospitals in South Korea. At enrolment, all patients completed the Bristol COPD Knowledge Questionnaire (BCKQ), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Personal Resource Questionnaire (PRQ), St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The data were analyzed via linear regression to identify factors associated with low-level knowledge of COPD.

A total of 245 COPD patients were enrolled in this study. The mean total BCKQ score was 28.1 (SD, 7.4). The lowest scores were seen for items exploring knowledge of "Oral steroids" and "Inhaled steroids". In univariate analysis, higher level of education (r = 0.17), low income (r = 0.13), the post-bronchodilator FEV_1, % predicted (r = -0.24), the post-bronchodilator FEV₁/FVC ratio (r = -0.13), SWLS (r = 0.15), PRQ (r = 0.16), SF-36 MCS (r = 0.13), HADS-A (r = -0.17), and HADS-D (r = -0.28) scores correlated with the BCKQ score (all p < 0.05). FEV₁ (r = -0.25, p < 0.001) and HADS-D score (r = -0.29, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with the total BCKQ score in multivariate analysis.

Our Korean patients with COPD lacked knowledge on oral and inhaled steroid treatments. In particular, patients with higher-level lung function and/or depressive symptoms exhibited poorer disease-specific knowledge; such patients may require additional education.