Illness perceptions and disease-related characteristics
The means, standard deviations, range of various dimensions of illness perceptions, dyspnoea, airflow limitations (FEV1), and HRQoL are presented in Table 3. In general, given their mean scores on the dimensions of illness perceptions, participants in this study considered their COPD chronic but not very serious, easily controlled by medical care or self-care, and with only minor consequences for daily life (Table 3). Most patients believe that smoking caused their COPD (71%), followed by heredity (22%), air pollution (16%) and allergy (8%).