Health management and quality of life of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the impacts of health management on quality of life of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD). Methods Ninety COPD in- or out- patients were assigned to two groups according to visit date. The control group was treated with conventional therapy, and the observation group obtained conventional therapy+ standard health management for 6 months. Cigarette smoking, 6 MWT/m and The St George′s Respiratory Questionnaire(SGRQ)were evaluated before and after the intervention. Results At 6 months, the ratio of current cigarette smoking of the observation group was much lower than that at baseline(χ2=4.464, P<0.05), 6 MWD/m was significantly increased(337.2±82.6 vs 372.0±76.3, t=-7.14, P=0.00), and the scores of respiratory symptoms, limitation of motion and influence of disease and total score of SGRQ were significantly reduced(t values were 6.15, 5.18, 4.70 and 5.07, respectively; all P<0.05). Conclusion Standard health management could decrease the rate of current cigarette smoking and improve exercise tolerance and the quality of life of COPD patients. Key words: Pulmonary disease, chronic obstructive; Quality of life; Management