The effect of illness perception of individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on their life

The aim of this study is to find out the the effect of illness perception of individuals with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) on their life. 199 individuals applied to Abant İzzet Baysal University Education Research Hospital, Thoracic Medicine Clinic who has been diagnosed by COPD constitute the study group of this cross-sectional type of research. The data were collected byface-to-face interview using the Questionnaire (sociodemographic and illness-related features), Illness Perception Scale, Short Form - 36 (SF-36) and Quality of Life Scale by researcher. In the study, power analysiswas used to calculate the sample size. In the power analysis, the effect size was 0.2, the type I error (α) was 0.05 and the power value was 0.80, and the sample size was 199, and the analysis was completed with 204 COPD subjects meeting the inclusion criteria. In the analysis of data collected, number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, ANCOVA (covariance analysis) model and pearson correlation analysis were used. Data were evaluated with SPSS (ver.22) and p <0.05 was taken as statistical significance level. According to findings obtained from the study, it is found that there is significant relation between illness perception-life quality and the gender, marital status, education level, income status, presence of chronic illness, smoking and alcohol use status (p>0.05). There was a significant correlation between the illness duration- illness stage of patients and perception of illness-quality of life (p>0.05). It is obtained that patients' perception of illness and quality of life decreases as the illness duration and stage increases. It has been found that while there is a significant positive correlation with personal control, treatment control, understanding of the illness, there is a significant negative correlation with the duration (acute / chronic), results, emotional representations, psychological references, risk factors by the SF-36 life quality measure subscales and illness perception measure sub-scales. There is a significant relationship between the perception of illness and quality of life (p>0.05). Individuals with COPD who have chronic and serious results, believes that COPD which effects themselves emotionally and psychologically in the process, decrease their quality of life, in the other hand their quality of life will increase if their illnesss are controlled by themselves and their treatments. As a result, illness perception of individuals with COPD has an important role in improving the quality of life. With an effective illness management, the patient's quality of life increases and the mortality decreases. In this context, it is really important for the nurse to approach the patient with a holistic approach of care to identify the patients' perception of the illness and the problems they have had, and to attempt to solve these problems or to improve the quality of patient's life. Individuals with COPD should be supported with educational programs and, if necessary, psychological interventions, in order to improve the quality of life, to achieve a positive perception of illness, to prevent or reduce the complications and to adapt to the treatment process; and nurses should advise patients and relatives on these issues. Keywords: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary İllness, Illness Perception, Quality of Life, Nurse.