Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease experienced ongoing challenges of preserving their personal integrity
Question How do patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience the changes in their ability to perform day to day activities?
Design
Phenomenology.
Setting
Pulmonary outpatient clinic in southeastern USA.
Patients
12 English speaking patients (mean age 67 y, 50% men) with moderate to severe emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma with underlying chronic airways obstruction, or COPD. Patients of varying sociodemographic backgrounds were recruited using purposive sampling.
Methods
Unstructured, tape recorded interviews that lasted 30–60 minutes each were conducted in a private room in the clinic. Patients were asked to describe a typical day and were then encouraged to self direct the content of the interview. Audiotapes were transcribed, checked for accuracy, and analysed based on Colaizzi's phenomenological method and the consensus dialogue approach to concept clarification. Theme clusters were identified and findings were validated for credibility.
Main findings
The concept of personal …
