Home Health Care Intervention regarding Quality of Life for Elderly Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease represents an important public health challenge and it's a major cause of chronic morbidity and mortality of the elderly people throughout the world. The aim of this study was to evaluate home health care intervention regarding quality of life for elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Benha City. Research design: A quasi experimental design was utilized in this study. Setting: This study was conducted in Outpatient Clinics of Chest Hospital in Benha City. The sample: Purposive sample 100 elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Tools: Three tools are used I): A structured interviewing questionnaire which consists of four parts to assess A): Demographic characteristics of the studied elderly patients, B): Medical history of the studied elderly patients with COPD, C): Knowledge of the studied elderly patients regarding chronic obstructive pulmonary disease D): Reported practices of the studied elderly patients regarding COPD, II): Scale to measure quality of life of the studied elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, III): Observational checklist: A-was used to observe practices of the studied elderly patients, B-was used to observe home of the studied elderly patients. Results: 55% of the studied elderly patients had good knowledge post intervention, 81% of the studied elderly patients were satisfactory practices post intervention, 72% of the studied elderly patients had good total scores of quality of life post intervention. Conclusion: The home health care intervention succeeded to improve knowledge, practices and quality of life of the studied elderly patients. Recommendations: Continuous home health care intervention for the elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to increase their knowledge and improve their practices.