Impact of continuity of care on quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

PurposePatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) suffer many physical disabilities which cause many problems in their life. These patients really need to have continuity of care based on cooperation between patient, the family and their care givers in order to achieve an integration of care. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of continuous care on quality of life of patients with COPD.Design/methodology/approachA before–after quasi-experimental study was carried out with 72 patients with COPD at Beheshti educational hospital of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. The patients who met inclusion criteria were randomly allocated into an intervention group (n=36) and a control group (n=36). The patients completed the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire before and after their care. The intervention comprised continuous care with orientation and sensitization sessions (2 weeks), control and evaluation sessions (45 days) for intervention group and with routine care in the control group. Data were analyzed with SPSS, descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted to measure differences between intervention and control group.FindingsContinuity of care improved significantly the quality of life of COPD patients in general, and in the symptoms, activity and impact domains (P=0.001). In contrast, routine care did not improve quality of life for patients in general, and in the symptoms, activity and impact domains (P=0.05).Originality/valueContinuity of care has a positive impact on quality of life for COPD patients. Health care system should utilize continuity of care models as an overall plan for patients with COPD. Moreover, managers of health care system could reduce burden of chronic diseases by employing continuity of care models in planning patient care.