Physical Activity Decline

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Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease which significantly affects patients’ physical activity. The purpose of the present study was to gain insight into the COPD patients’ perception of the disease and their experience during physical activity decline. Methods: This qualitative study was performed in National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, a university hospital located in Tehran, Iran, which represents a referral center for COPD. Data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews with 18 patients with COPD. Patients were recruited by purposeful sampling with the maximum variation sampling to achieve representative variation in patient’s gender, age, educational level, and severity and duration of COPD. Data were analyzed via conventional content analysis approach. Results: The COPD patients’ perception of the disease and their experience during physical activity decline was summarized in 6 categories: variable strength, experienced dyspnea, changed communication patterns, changed self-care patterns, lack of education, and environmental factors. Findings indicated that the patterns of physical activities, communication, and self-care in COPD patients change toward living normal and independent. Conclusion: It is imperative for the relevant health-care professionals to have a correct understanding of the characteristics of physical activity in COPD patients, because by knowing the characteristics of a phenomenon, it can be better measured and managed. Education and behavioral interventions are the most important ways to improve physical activity in COPD patients. This education should be cultural based and be adapted to the patients’ situation, and also emotional and environmental factors should be considered.