A structural equation model of health-related quality of life among Thai men with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Effect of Respiration Training-Assisted Western Medicine Therapy on Activity Tolerance, Pulmonary Function, and Quality of Life of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients in the Stable Phase

Objective

To explore the effect of respiration training-assisted western medicine therapy on activity tolerance, pulmonary function, and quality of life (QOL) of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in the stable phase.

Methods

The medical data of 90 COPD patients in the stable phase treated in the respiratory medicine of our hospital (November 2020-November 2021) were chosen for the retrospective analysis, and the patients were split into group A (n = 45, respiration training-assisted western medicine therapy) and group B (n = 45, western medicine therapy) according to the clinical reception order, so as to record and compare the activity tolerance, lung function, and QOL between the groups after intervention.

Results

Compared with group B after intervention, group A showed greatly longer mean 6-min walking distance, significantly lower St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score, significantly higher specific airway conductance (sGAW) and level values of various lung function indicators, and significantly lower level values of airway resistance (RAW) and specific airway resistance (sRAW) (p all<0.001); the total effective rate was significantly higher in group A (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Respiration training-assisted western medicine therapy is a dependable way to improve the activity tolerance of COPD patients in the stable phase, and such strategy largely improves patients' lung function and QOL. Deeper studies will be helpful to establish a preferable solution for such patients.

Mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship between social support and treatment burden among older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

This study was conducted to investigate the connection between social support and the treatment burden among older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and to examine the mediating role of psychological capital within that connection. Although treatment burden is common, the current data on social support associated with it is limited, and the theoretical mechanisms underlying the relationship between the two variables have not yet been clarified. A total of 245 older outpatients with COPD were recruited. Descriptive and Structural Equation Modelling was employed to test the hypothesised model using SPSS 26 and IBM SPSS AMOS 26. The modified model yielded an adequate fit to the data. The variation in the treatment burden explained by the hypothetical model was 57.2%. The study provides a new perspective for medical professionals to manage the treatment burden by developing efficient social support and psychological capital measures.

Effects of Doxofylline Combined with Ceftazidime on Clinical Efficacy, Drug Safety, and Prognosis in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Complicated with Infection

Background

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of doxofylline combined with ceftazidime on clinical efficacy, drug safety, and prognosis in patients with COPD complicated with infection.

Material/Methods

A total of 450 patients admitted to the Inner Mongolia BaoGang Hospital for treatment of COPD from January 2017 to December 2019 were selected to participate. All patients were randomly divided into control and observation groups, with 225 patients in each group. In addition, patients with COPD in the remission stage were matched by sex and age for a blank control group. The control group was treated with doxofylline, and the observation group was treated with ceftazidime and doxofylline. No drug intervention was given to the blank control group. Short-term efficacy, pulmonary ventilation function, patient quality of life, peripheral blood TNF-α and PGDF-B levels, and adverse drug reactions were observed.

Results

The effective treatment rate in the observation group was 96.89%, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (84.00%). Measures of pulmonary ventilation function and patient quality of life in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Levels of TNF-α and PDGF-B in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group. There were no significant differences in the above indicators between the blank control group and the observation group.

Conclusions

Doxofylline combined with ceftazidime effectively treated patients with COPD complicated with infection. These results provide a reference for clinical treatment.

Impact of Caregiving Burden on Quality of Life of Caregivers of COPD Patients: The Chain Mediating Role of Social Support and Negative Coping Styles

Purpose

Caregivers of COPD patients experience various caregiving burden, which is related to their quality of life. We aimed to explicitly explore whether social support and negative coping styles play the chain mediating roles in the relationship between the caregiving burden of caregivers of COPD patients and their health-related quality of life.

Methods

We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional survey in four hospitals using a convenience sample. Participants who met the inclusion criteria completed five relevant scales, including a sociodemographic scale. One-way ANOVA and Pearson’s method were used to analyze the data accordingly, and chain mediated effect values were estimated by bootstrap method to determine whether the model holds.

Results

Among the 201 caregivers who participated in this study, the mean age was 55.94 years, most of them were female (61.2%), the mean caregiving burden score was 52.39 ± 14.65, and the quality of life score was 37.97 ± 3.55. Among them, age, gender, education, relationship with the patient, and the number of chronic diseases were the main factors affecting the quality of life score of the caregivers. According to Pearson results, there was a negative correlation between quality of life and caregiving burden, and negative coping styles. The model result showed that caregiving burden could directly and negatively predict quality of life, and also predict quality of life through the chain mediation of social support and negative coping styles.

Conclusion

In China, caregivers of patients with COPD experience severe levels of caregiving burden and low quality of life. The combination of adequate perceived social support and lower negative coping can be effective in alleviating caregiving burden and improving their quality of life. Therefore, healthcare professionals should provide targeted guidance to caregivers with the help of social support and interventions that regulate negative coping styles.

Application of Ferrans et al.'s conceptual model of health-related quality of life: A systematic review

Ferrans, Zerwic, Wilbur, and Larson proposed the conceptual model of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in 2005 to explicate the constructs associated with HRQOL and to describe the associations among those constructs. In this systematic review, the authors aimed to describe empirical studies that used Ferrans et al.'s model and to examine the evidence related to the hypothesized model concepts. This review followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Relevant articles were identified using Crossref, CINAHL, and PubMed. To be included, studies had to employ the model as a theoretical framework and be published in English between 2005 and 2020. Type of theory use was coded using four designations: informed by theory, applied theory, testing theory, and building theory. Thirty-one studies were included. Most studies involved adult patients with chronic illnesses (n = 20) and were conducted in Western countries (n = 22). The most common type of theory use was testing theory (74.19%). Among the seven concepts in Ferrans et al.'s model, all 20 hypothesized associations were tested and 19 were supported by study results. The three associations most frequently supported were between symptoms and functional status (n = 13), environmental characteristics and quality of life (n = 10), and individual characteristics and functional status (n = 8). No studies found an association between environmental characteristics and biological function. Our review found that Ferrans et al.'s model has been used extensively to guide HRQOL research. An emerging body of research provides preliminary support for the associations hypothesized in the model. Additional research is needed to confirm the hypothesized associations among model concepts.