Another study, by Kanervisto et al in 2007,31 agrees
with this to some extent, suggesting that the needs of
COPD patients at the social level, especially the relationship with spouses, include having peer support for encouragement, information about rehabilitation programs, and simply to help the COPD patients forget their own poor
condition; they indicated further that spouses or other caregivers needed support from treating personnel to help maintain their supporting role in the lives of the COPD patients. In the present study, when spouses were the primary caregivers, we observed a reduced tendency toward poor self care behavior among patients, perhaps because of the nature of the spousal relationship. This may indicate that spouses are appropriate primary caregivers when this is possible.