The Relationship between Functional Impairments and Activities of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the correlation between functional impairments and activities in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, to determine the area of abilities affected by functional impairments. The subjects consisted of 86 patients with diagnostic criteria for COPD. Using a Multiple Indicator Multiple Cause Model, the functional impairments contribution rates to “self-care activity”, “domestic activity”, “outdoor activity” and “social interaction activity” were 52.5%, 74.0%, 72.4% and 45.6%, respectively, thus indicating that functional impairments have a strong effect on “domestic activity” and“outdoor activity”. On the other hand, since 59.0% of functional impairments can be explained by the degree of pulmonary obstructive disorder, the degree of shortness of breath and nutritional state, the results also demonstrated that the remaining 41.0% are related to other factors. These findings suggest that in order to maintain or improve the QOL of COPD patients it is advisable that nursing intervention begins by assessing their abilities to perform “domestic activity” and “outdoor activity”.