فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of progressive lungdiseases; the most common are emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It is considered to be the majorcause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and is considered to be one of the leading causes of deathsin India, the main reason being misconception/misinterpretation of the disease and unawarenessabout the risk factors which hinder early diagnosis and its treatment effectively. Therefore, thepresent study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and behavior about the disease process andphysiotherapy management in patients diagnosed with COPD.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ethical clearance was obtained before initiating the study. It wasa cross‑sectional, qualitative study. In total, 14 patients of COPD were recruited for the study byconvenience sampling. The total study duration was 6 months. Two focused groups (n = 14) wereconducted with seven COPD patients (diagnosed by chest physician on the basis of pulmonaryfunction testing) in each after obtaining the written informed consent. Focus group contents werevideo graphed after obtaining the consent and a focus group discussion (FGD) guide comprisingof 15 questions was used for the study. Transcripts were prepared from the audio/video recordingsand were analyzed qualitatively by narrative analysis.RESULTS:  The narration transcripted during both the sessions of FGD showed significantnegligence about the disease process, its precipitating factors, preventive measures, andphysiotherapy management among the patients suffering from COPD in the community. Noneof the patients were aware even about the term “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” andonly 35.71% of patients were aware of physiotherapy management as a mean of treatment forCOPD.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. Thesepatients require correct, detailed, and broad‑based information about their condition and availabilityof treatment options.