Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and behavior about the disease process and physiotherapy management in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of progressive lung diseases; the most common are emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It is considered to be the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and is considered to be one of the leading causes of deaths in India, the main reason being misconception/misinterpretation of the disease and unawareness about the risk factors which hinder early diagnosis and its treatment effectively. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and behavior about the disease process and physiotherapy management in patients diagnosed with COPD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ethical clearance was obtained before initiating the study. It was a cross-sectional, qualitative study. In total, 14 patients of COPD were recruited for the study by convenience sampling. The total study duration was 6 months. Two focused groups (n = 14) were conducted with seven COPD patients (diagnosed by chest physician on the basis of pulmonary function testing) in each after obtaining the written informed consent. Focus group contents were video graphed after obtaining the consent and a focus group discussion (FGD) guide comprising of 15 questions was used for the study. Transcripts were prepared from the audio/video recordings and were analyzed qualitatively by narrative analysis. RESULTS: The narration transcripted during both the sessions of FGD showed significant negligence about the disease process, its precipitating factors, preventive measures, and physiotherapy management among the patients suffering from COPD in the community. None of the patients were aware even about the term “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” and only 35.71% of patients were aware of physiotherapy management as a mean of treatment for COPD. CONCLUSIONS: The present study concludes that there is a lack of knowledge, incorrect attitudes, and flawed behavioral changes which needs to be corrected among the patients with COPD. These patients require correct, detailed, and broad-based information about their condition and availability of treatment options.