Self-care agency and affecting factors in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

INTRODUCTION: In the studies about self-care agency in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with a high agency of self-care have been found to be more successful at disease management. Determining the self-care agency (SCA) and affecting factors in patients with COPD are important nursing interventions in order to plan proper care and to support the SCA for patients with COPD. This study was conducted to determine SCA and affecting factors in patients with COPD.
METHODS: Totally 226 patients with COPD who applied to chest diseases outpatient clinics of a governmental hospital in Turkey were recruited to the study between November 2012 and April 2013. Data were collected with a “patient identification form” which was prepared after a literature review and with the “self-care agency scale (SCAS).
RESULTS: According to the research results, mean score of self-care agency of patients with COPD was found to be 70.15±13.75. Patients with COPD who were male, high school graduates, married, governmental officers, and who had given up smoking and who perceived their health status as good had a significantly higher level of self-care agency than other groups (p<0.05).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Ýn the present study it was seen that patients’ self-care agency scale scores were at a moderate level. Self-care agency of patients with COPD is affected by gender, education status, marital status, occupation, smoking status and perception of health. This study provides basic data for the future researches.