Meaning of Home Oxygen Therapy in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

The aim of this study is to clarify how COPD patients accept and practice home oxygen therapy, and what meanings do they find in their experiences. A guided semi-structured interview was conducted with 12 male COPD patients practicing home oxygen therapy, and thus obtained data were analyzed in a qualitative descriptive way.
Based on the analysis, five categories were extracted in meanings given to home oxygen therapy by COPD patients, specifically, “There is no other choice”, “Breathing gets easier, and I can do what I want to do”, “Life becomes hard”, “I feel death nearby”, and “I can carry on thanks to support”.
Home oxygen therapy proved to have contradictory meanings for COPD patients: “Breathing gets easier, and I can do what I want to do”, but on the other hand, “Life becomes hard”. The study suggested that nurses can help alleviate patients’ difficulties by understanding and supporting their experiences.