The Effects of the Home-based Self-care Program Follow-up on Re-hospitalization Frequency and Quality of Life in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

Objectives: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) impacts the quality of life of the affected patients. The present study aimed to determine the effects of home-based self-care program follow-up on re-hospitalization frequency and quality of life in COPD patients. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 44 COPD patients at Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran City, Iran, in 2018. For collecting the necessary data, we used demographic data checklist, COPD Assessment Test, and the St. George’s Quality of Life questionnaire. We used SPSS v. 22 for analyzing the obtained data. Results: The present study revealed that the highest age frequency was in the 61-70 years age group. Moreover, the male gender had the highest frequency and most research participants had elementary school education; the highest frequency regarding the disease duration was >5 years. Besides and the hospitalization frequency was once a year. The present study findings indicated that the provided self-care program follow-up reduced the re-hospitalization frequency and increased the quality of life of the explored COPD patients (P<0.001). Discussion: The obtained results revealed that implementing a course of home-based follow-up self-care program could reduce re-hospitalization and increase the quality of life of COPD patients; thus, it is suggested that such follow-up programs be included in COPD treatment plans.