Effect of Self-Management Program on Health Status and Dyspnea in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Self-management is becoming increasingly important in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as it is associated with improved clinical outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a self-management program on health status and dyspnea severity in patients with COPD.

This semi-experimental study was done on patients with COPD who were hospitalized at Ayatollah Kashani and Hajar hospitals from July 2017 to November 2019 in Shahrekord, Iran. Sixty patients with COPD were selected and completed three questionnaires, including a demographic questionnaire, COPD Assessment Test (CAT), and Dyspnea Scale (mMRC). The researcher educated the self-management skills to the intervention group, and the control group received routine care only. Three months after the intervention, the questionnaires were completed again by the control and intervention groups. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics by SPSS version 24.

The results of this study showed that there was no significant difference in health status between the two groups before the intervention (p=0.827). Three months after the intervention, the health status score in the control and intervention groups were 20.93±5.00 and 18.00±5.18, respectively, which this difference was statistically significant (p=0.030). Also, at the beginning of the study, the difference in dyspnea score between the two groups was not statistically significant (p=0.593). However, three months after the intervention, the score of dyspnea in the control and intervention groups was 2.1±0.995 and 1.53±1.074, respectively, which this difference was significant (p= 0.038).

This study showed that self-management intervention could improve the health status and reduce the dyspnea of patients with COPD.