Can patients with COPD and chronic heart failure join the same self-management group in primary health care? – a study on exercise self-efficacy, symptoms, functional capacity, and health status

05 Aug 2021
Clinical Research Results AimTo compare exercise self-efficacy, symptoms, functional capacity, and health status in patients with COPD with patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), and to explore how symptoms are associated with exercise self-efficacy. Method Study using baseline data from a study testing a self-management group-intervention for 150 patients with COPD (n=60), CHF (n=60) and a possible double diagnosis (n=30) recruited in primary health care. Exercise self-efficacy (Swedish SCI Exercise Self-Efficacy Score), dyspnea (mMRC), fatigue (Fatigue Score), pain (five-level severity question), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), functional capacity (six-minute Walking Distance) and health status (VAS) were measured. Linear regression analysis with self-efficacy as dependent variable explored associations with symptoms adjusted for diagnosis (COPD, CHF, both), age and sex. ResultsThe groups of patients with COPD and CHF differed in distribution of sexes (23 (38%) vs 40 (67%) males; p<0.05) and mean age (69 (SD8) vs 78 (SD8) years; p<0.05), but similar levels of self-efficacy, health status and symptoms. Functional capacity was similar after correction for age. Negative associations with self-efficacy were found for mMRC=1 (R -4.45; 95% CI-8.41- -0.50), mMRC=2 (-6.60;-10.68- -2.52), mMRC=3 (-9.94;-15.07- -4.80), fatigue (-0.87;-1.41- -0.32), moderate (-3.87;-7.52- -0.21) and severe pain (-5.32;-10.13- -0.52), depression (-0.98;-1.42- -0.55) and anxiety (-0.65;-0,10- -0.32) after correction for diagnosis, sex and age. ConclusionPatients with COPD or CHF have similar levels of exercise self-efficacy, symptoms, functional capacity, and health status. Symptoms are associated with level of self-efficacy regardless of diagnosis, sex, and age. These findings implicate the feasibility of joint self-management groups with focus on exercise self-efficacy. Strategies must be offered to reduce dyspnea, fatigue, pain, depression, and anxiety. Implementation Science/Service Development Research Ideas on Respiratory Conditions and Tobacco Dependency Abstract Declaration of Interest This Study was funded by the Department of Research and Public Health of Region Värmland, the Uppsala-Örebro Regional Research Council and the Swedish Heart and Lung Association. The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work. References and Clinical Trial Registry Information

Resource information

Respiratory conditions
  • COPD
Type of resource
Abstract
Conference
Dublin 2021
Author(s)
Maaike Giezeman, Centre for Clinical Research and Education, Region Värmland, Sweden