Background Functional limitation among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and their dependence on their family caregivers (FCs) can significantly increase caregiver burden (CB) and reduce the quality of life (QOL) among FCs. Education of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) to FCs is a strategy with potential positive effects on CB. This study was conducted to compare the effects of smartphone-based and face-to-face (FTF) PR education on CB and QOL among the FCs of patients with COPD. Methods This randomized controlled field trial was conducted in 2021–2022. Participants were purposefully selected from the PR unit of Khorshid comprehensive respiratory care clinic in Isfahan, Iran, and randomly allocated to a control and an intervention group. Participants in the control group received PR education in twelve 30–60-min FTF sessions held twice weekly in six consecutive weeks. Their counterparts in the intervention group received PR education for 6 weeks through an android application. The Zarit Burden Interview and the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) were used for data collection before and immediately after the study intervention. The SPSS software (v. 24.0) was used to analyze the data through the independent-sample t, paired-sample t, chi-square, and Fisher’s exact tests. Results The means of participants’ age was 47.7 ± 13.8 years in the control group and 44.1 ± 14.8 years in the intervention group. Most participants in these groups were female (82.9% vs. 71.4%). The pretest mean scores of CB and QOL were respectively 50.77 ± 10.64 and 27.82 ± 3.9 in the control group and 49.77 ± 7.65 and 26.71 ± 3.5 in the intervention group with no significant between-group difference (P > 0.05). At the posttest, these values were respectively 51.57 ± 7.32 and 27.74 ± 3.28 in the control group and 37.31 ± 6.95 and 34.37 ± 2.8 in the intervention group, and between-group differences were significant (P < 0.05). The mean scores of CB and QOL did not significantly change in the control group (P > 0.05), but respectively decreased and increased significantly in the intervention group (P < 0.05). Conclusions Smartphone-based PR education is effective in significantly decreasing CB and improving QOL among the FCs of patients with COPD. Trial registration Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT20161203031200N3
Objective Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one of the most common causes of death in the world, which affects the functional level of patients due to its progressive nature. disabilities caused by the disease lead to the dependence of these patients on family caregivers. Following the changes in caregivers’ lives, most family caregivers are exposed to psychological distress. Involving caregivers in pulmonary rehabilitation training for patients is one of the ways to reduce psychological distress. Considering the emergence of the digital age and the limitations of face-to-face training such as time and cost, mobile phone-based applications are available as one of the new methods for providing educational support to caregivers. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the effect of the pulmonary rehabilitation application on the psychological distress of caregivers of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Materials & Methods This study is a field trial conducted on 70 family caregivers of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The samples were selected as available from the Sun Breathing Comprehensive Clinic and after checking the inclusion criteria, they were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups by minimization software. The intervention group used mobile phone-based pulmonary rehabilitation training application for 6 weeks. For the control group, face-to-face pulmonary rehabilitation training (routine) was provided in the form of 12 sessions during 6 weeks. The data collection tool included Kessler’s demographic information and psychological distress questionnaires, which were completed by caregivers before and after the intervention. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 24 software and Mann-Whitney, Chi-square and independent and paired t tests. Results According to the findings, the two groups were homogeneous in terms of demographic characteristics. The average age of caregivers in the intervention and control groups was (44.1±14.8), (47.7±13.8) years, respectively. In the intervention group, 71.4% were female caregivers and in the control group, 82.9% were female caregivers (P>0/05). Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in terms of psychological distress between the test and control groups (P<0.05), but after the intervention, there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of psychological distress (P=0.001). The average score of psychological distress before and after the intervention in the intervention group was (14.97±6.65) and (10.25±4.50) respectively, and there was a significant decrease (P<0.000), but the psychological distress in the control group was (15.68±7.91). 5.42±14.60) had no significant change (P<0.05). Conclusion The results of this study indicate that training through a mobile-based pulmonary rehabilitation application may be useful in reducing the psychological distress of family caregivers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Therefore, since the favorable mental state of caregivers has a significant effect on the quality of care provided , it is recommended to use this method in the training of caregivers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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