Factors contributing to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients' functional performance: Structural equation modelling based on theory of unpleasant symptoms

AIM: This study aimed to predict the functional performance of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by clarifying the relationship among disease severity, uncertainty, social support, symptom experience, coping, and functional performance. DESIGN: A model‐testing design was used. METHODS: The subjects of this study were outpatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who visited the respiratory clinic of a general hospital in Seoul, Korea. The data were collected using validated instruments from July 2018 to April 2019, of which 202 questionnaires in total were used for data analysis. Collected data were analysed by using IBM SPSS v27.0 and Mplus 8.0. RESULTS: The severity of the disease, uncertainty, and symptom experience should be reduced to improve the functional performance of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Furthermore, reduced uncertainty can improve functional performance by reducing symptom experience. Nursing interventions for the improvement of pulmonary function and reduction of symptom experience should be developed.