Non-drug methods were more effective than
taking medication in relieving the cluster of emotional
problems. The most effective strategies were:
acceptance of fate and getting used to symptoms,
emotional support from family, and prayer or
performing religious activities. It may be explained
that fate acceptance and getting used to symptoms
refers in the Thai language to Tham Jai [have to
accept a symptom occurrence and move on] or Plong
[to take it on the chin and decide to face it], in which
participants tried to cope and live with their disease in
an inevitable fashion, and do the best for themselves.
This was a simple method that helped the participants
feel better. Also, emotional support from family
was an important resource. Prayer or performing
religious activities were also used to relax and create
a peaceful mind.
Limitations
This study has several limitations related to the
study population, methodology and measurement tool
that needs to be taken into consideration. Firstly, the
findings may not be generalizable to Thais with COPD
in other regions of the country, since all participants
came from only one province in the north of Thailand.
As well those participants with a high level of disease
severity did not attend at COPD clinics. Secondly, it
took approximately 30-45 minutes to complete
questionnaires, which might be too long for some
persons who were elderly and more likely to be fatigued.
Conclusions and Implications for
Nursing Practice
The findings from this study revealed that
persons with COPD experienced multiple co-existing
symptoms which were grouped together as a cluster
with a high level of distress. In addition, they used a
variety of management strategies to relieve the
distressing from clusters of symptoms. Nevertheless,
there are some recommendations for implications for
both practice and future research.
For nursing practice, nurses should pay more
attention to symptom assessment, management of pain
and sleep problems together with other symptoms as a
cluster, although, respiration difficulty is a major group
of distressing symptoms and usually received more
attention in this study. Also, many pharmacological
and non-pharmacological strategies were found to be
effective in symptom management; however, these are
very complex in techniques and needed to be practiced
continuously. Thus, APN may be appropriate for case
management in Thailand to enhance patients’ skills in
both adherence to medical regimen and nonpharmacological
strategies in management of multiple
distressing symptoms. These contribute to reducing in
health care cost of readmissions as well as increasing
quality of persons’ life. Moreover, the issue of
improvement in nutritional status should be emphasized
since almost a half of the participants were underweight.
For future nursing research, based on the
preliminary data in which a group of management for
each of distressing cluster, a study should emphasize
on the development and testing the effectiveness of the
combination of management strategies for symptom
cluster. This practical intervention helps persons and
their families to effectively and comprehensively
manage co-existing distressing symptoms. It seems
that the duration of being COPD and severity of disease
may influence symptom experiences, thus, studying
these factors associated with symptoms should be
done. Symptom assessment among Thais with
COPD should be refined more specifically to measure
accurately and appropriately within this context.
Lastly, studying the relationship between nutritional
status and symptom distress needs to be explored. Basic
knowledge may provide a better understanding of this
phenomenon that can contribute to developing an
intervention to improve nutritional status and alleviate
symptom distress among person with COPD.
Symptom Distress, Cluster, and Management in Thais with COPD
Acknowledgments
The authors thank all participants in this study
as well as the Faculty of Nursing, Chiang Mai
University, for providing support of the study.