Conclusions
In conclusion, our findings indicate that rigorous caregiving
is associated with less self-reliance among COPD
patients and also that increasing COPD patients’ self-care
behavior may reduce the caregiver burden on relatives
who provide day-to-day caregiving. The positive correlation between the duration of family caregivers’ care and patients’ self-care behavior may indicate that, with enough time, the relationships between familial caregiver and patient become more supportive of self-care behavior, or that the transition to appropriate self-care behavior is delayed by familial caregivers’ tendency to over-care for the COPD patient. We further suggest that self-care behavior among COPD patients could be improved by providing disease related education to increase COPD knowledge among both patients and caregivers, and by training family caregivers to promote elder patients’ independence and self care ability. Also, reducing dependence on caregivers may empower patients to gain confidence in their ability to implement the necessary behaviors to manage symptoms and reduce hospitalizations.