A breath of fresh air: activity needs in COPD

Background: COPD has a major impact on quality of life, but this aspect has mainly been studied using quantitative methods. Little is known about the patients’ own experience of this condition. It has been suggested that engagement in activity is important to patients with COPD, even to those with severe physical limitations. Aim: To identify the needs of people living with COPD relating to activity, and to ascertain to what extent NHS pulmonary rehabilitation programmes (PR) meet these needs as perceived by patients. Methods: A qualitative approach was employed, using semi-structured interviews. Participants were interviewed pre and post PR. The sampling method followed purposeful and theoretical sampling strategies. Grounded Theory was used to analyse data, using coding and memoing to categorise data. Results: Nine participants (6 male, 3 female) were recruited. The importance of ’Outdoor activities’ was identified from all interviews. ’Freshair’ stood out as the most important aspect of spending time outside. Freshair was associated with a sense of freedom from the usual experience of having tight airways, having breathing difficulties and being ’shutin’. When breathing freshair, participants reported feelings of relaxation and a reduced sense of panic and anxiety. Following PR participants reported that they felt more confident in managing their breathlessness, were able to engage more in outdoor activities, thus having more access to freshair. Conclusion: Outdoor activity, linked with the idea of freshair, is important to people with COPD as it is linked to relaxation and a perceived relief of breathlessness. The findings from this study can contribute to the development of more patient focused interventions within PR