This study had several limitations, including that certain
pairs of COPD patients and their caregivers had to be
excluded because a family member was not the major
caregiver. Additionally, the questionnaires, although they
were well-documented tools shown to have acceptable content validity and reliability (internal consistency), had been modified for this study and may not have retained their original characteristics; they may also have response bias due to the nature of self-reporting. As mentioned above, another limitation is that the severity of COPD was not considered as a confounder when the relationship between self-care behavior and caregiver behavior was analyzed, which may somewhat restrict interpretation. The modest size of our study correlations must be noted as well, since this may also limit interpretation to some degree. Further study is warranted to support our conclusions.