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Original Article

Effects of self-regulation protocol on physiological and psychological measures in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

  1. Chia-Chi Kuo MSN, RN Advanced Practice Nurse1,
  2. Chiu-Chu Lin PhD, RN Associate Professor2,*,
  3. Shu-Yuan Lin PhD, RN Assistant Professor2,
  4. Yi-Hsin Yang PhD Associate Professor3,4,
  5. Chao-Sung Chang PhD, MD Professor5,
  6. Ching-Huey Chen PhD Professor6

Article first published online: 7 FEB 2013

DOI: 10.1111/jocn.12085

Additional Information

How to Cite

Kuo, C.-C., Lin, C.-C., Lin, S.-Y., Yang, Y.-H., Chang, C.-S. and Chen, C.-H. (2013), Effects of self-regulation protocol on physiological and psychological measures in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Journal of Clinical Nursing. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12085

Author Information

  1. 1

    Emergency Department, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan

  2. 2

    School of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  3. 3

    Biostatistics, School of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  4. 4

    Division of Statistical Analysis, Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  5. 5

    College of Health Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  6. 6

    Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

* Correspondence: Chiu-Chu Lin, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Shih-Chuan, 1st Road, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan. Telephone: +88673121101 ext. 2611.
E-mail: chiuchu@kmu.edu.tw

Publication History

  1. Article first published online: 7 FEB 2013
  2. Manuscript Accepted: 11 SEP 2012

Funded by

  • Chi-Mei Medical Center of Taiwan. Grant Number: CMFHR9667

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Keywords:

  • acute exacerbation;
  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;
  • nursing;
  • randomised controlled trial;
  • self-regulation

Aims and objectives

This study presents a discussion of the physiological and psychological efficacy of a self-regulation protocol in lowering acute exacerbation symptoms in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are often troubled by acute exacerbation and must learn how to prevent this.

Design

A two-group, pretest–post-test experimental design was used in this study.

Methods

Data were collected between January–July 2008. Sixty-four participants were randomly assigned either to an intervention (n = 33) or to a comparison (n = 31) group. Both groups were assessed on four separate occasions, namely pretest, post-test 1 (5th week), post-test 2 (9th week) and post-test 3 (13th week). The intervention group received a four-week self-regulation protocol. The comparison group received the self-regulation guidebook only. The Borg Dyspnea Scale, the Symptom Distress Scale, the Pulmonary Functional Status Scale, the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Self-Efficacy Scale and the peak expiratory flow were used to measure differences between pretest and post-test values.

Results

On the 5th, 9th and 13th weeks after the self-regulation protocol intervention, we found significantly better scores in the four scales in the intervention group compared to those in the comparison group. On the 9th and 13th weeks, there was a significantly greater peak expiratory flow in the intervention group. The intervention group also showed a lower rate of unscheduled physician visits because of acute exacerbation than the comparison group.

Conclusion

The findings indicate that the self-regulation protocol developed in this study could significantly assist participants to control their individual symptoms and avoid acute exacerbation.

Relevance to clinical practice

Healthcare professionals could apply the protocol developed in this study to assist patients to learn the strategies of self-regulation to prevent their acute exacerbation symptoms.

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