Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and behavior about the disease process and physiotherapy management in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A qualitative study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Ashish Gupta
. Vinod Ravaliya 1
. Daxa Mishra, Vyoma Dani
. Chandni Sodawala 2
. Hardi Shah 3
. Disha Patel 4

1 Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

2 Directions Physical Health, New York

3 Hamilton Grove Healthcare and Rehab Centre, NJ, USA,

4 Physiotherapists, Anand, Gujarat, India

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of progressive lung
diseases; the most common are emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It is considered to be the major
cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and is considered to be one of the leading causes of deaths
in India, the main reason being misconception/misinterpretation of the disease and unawareness
about the risk factors which hinder early diagnosis and its treatment effectively. Therefore, the
present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and behavior about the disease process and
physiotherapy management in patients diagnosed with COPD.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ethical clearance was obtained before initiating the study. It was
a cross‑sectional, qualitative study. In total, 14 patients of COPD were recruited for the study by
convenience sampling. The total study duration was 6 months. Two focused groups (n = 14) were
conducted with seven COPD patients (diagnosed by chest physician on the basis of pulmonary
function testing) in each after obtaining the written informed consent. Focus group contents were
video graphed after obtaining the consent and a focus group discussion (FGD) guide comprising
of 15 questions was used for the study. Transcripts were prepared from the audio/video recordings
and were analyzed qualitatively by narrative analysis.
RESULTS:  The narration transcripted during both the sessions of FGD showed significant
negligence about the disease process, its precipitating factors, preventive measures, and
physiotherapy management among the patients suffering from COPD in the community. None
of the patients were aware even about the term “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” and
only 35.71% of patients were aware of physiotherapy management as a mean of treatment for
COPD.
CONCLUSIONS: The present study concludes that there is a lack of knowledge, incorrect attitudes,
and flawed behavioral changes which needs to be corrected among the patients with COPD. These
patients require correct, detailed, and broad‑based information about their condition and availability
of treatment options.

Keywords

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
physiotherapy
qualitative research
morbidity
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 9, Issue 1
January 2019
Pages 1-6

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