Illness perceptions and coping determine quality of life in COPD patients

A key goal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care is to improve patients' quality of life (QoL). For outcomes such as QoL, illness perceptions and coping are important determinants. Aim: The primary aim was to assess the associations between illness perceptions, coping and QoL in COPD patients. A secondary aim was to compare illness perceptions and coping of patients with reference values derived from the literature. Patients and methods: A total of 100 patients were included in the study. Patients were asked to complete the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ), the Utrecht Proactive Coping Competence scale (UPCC), and a QoL item. Correlations and linear regression models were used to analyze the data. Student's t-tests were used to compare patients with COPD with reference values derived from the literature. Results: Patients with better understanding of COPD utilized more proactive coping strategies (P=0.04). A more intense emotional response to COPD was related to less proactive coping (P=0.02). Patients who reported using more proactive coping techniques also reported to have a better QoL (P