Effect of family function and social support on quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Objective To understand the family function, social support and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) , and the relationship among them. Methods Using convenient sampling method, 225 patients with COPD admitted to a ClassⅢ hospital from June 2017 to September 2018 were selected as the study subjects. General Information Questionnaire, APGAR Family Caring Index Questionnaire, Social Support Rating Scale and WHO Quality of Life-BREF Scale were used to investigate the patients. Univariate analysis, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the relationship between patients' quality of life and social support or family function. Results The scores of family function, social support and quality of life were (7.03±2.15) , (39.43±8.46) and (51.91±11.48) respectively. The score of family function, scores for all dimensions of social support and total score of social support were positively correlated with the score of quality of life (P<0.05) . The family function, social support and disease severity were main influencing factors of COPD patients' quality of life (P<0.01) . Conclusions Good family function and social support are conducive to improving the quality of life of patients with COPD. It is suggested that nursing staff encourage family members to pay more attention to patients, improve the level of social support of patients, and improve the quality of life of patients. Key words: Pulmonary disease, chronic obstructive; Quality of life; Family function; Social support