The relationship between conditioning factors and spouse support in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

ABSTRACT

The relationship between basic conditioning factors and spouse support was studied in 100 COPD patients (81 males, 19 females) who attended the COPD clinic at Siriraj Hospital. The questionnaire used was modified from Robert House by Supaporn Duang-Pang with confident equal to 0.81. The date was analysed with the SPSS/PC program for Pearson’s correlation coefficient and t-test. Sixty-six per cent of COPD patients received moderate support from their spouses, 32 percent received good support and 12 per cent were give poor support. Factors that received good support include concern for patient’s symptoms after receiving medical attention and financial support for medical expenses. Factors that received poor support were the inability of the spouse to acknowledge any mental feeling of ill-health, and support in daily activities. There was no significant correlation between age, sex, education level, duration of the illness, occupation, income and spouse support.