The impact of an Education-Based Intervention Program (EBIP) on dyspnea and chronic self-care management among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients: A randomized controlled study

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of dyspnea and chronic self-care management outcomes of an Education-Based Intervention Program (EBIP) compared to routine care. METHODS: The population of the study consisted of self-care management scale of 61 patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) stage 2 and within one month after discharge. A total of 51 conforming patients were divided into experimental and control groups for a single-blind randomized trial. Data were collected using an introductory information form, the baseline dyspnea index (BDI), pulmonary function test (PFT), the self-care management process in chronic illness (SCMP-G) scale and body mass index (BMI). There were no addition interventions to the control group. The intervention group underwent a 3-month EBIP intervention that included education, house visits and follow-ups through phone calls between March 2019 and June 2019. The data were analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests, χ(2), Mann Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. p<0.05 was statistically significant. RESULTS: The study was completed with a total of 40 COPD patients. The effect of the EBIP training program on BDI, PFT, and SCMP-G scores in the intervention group was statistically proven (p<0.05). However, the differences between the groups in the BDI sub-dimension of functional impairment and PFT were not statistically significant (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Providing patients with illness-related education through EBIP provided a partial improvement in dyspnea and a significant improvement in chronic care management among COPD patients.