International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Dyadic Coping with Dyspnoea-Related Kinesiophobia in Couples Living with COPD: "Entrapped Together or Moving Through Together" - A Constructivist Grounded Theory
By Liu X, Fan W, Zhou T and 2 others.
Abstract
Aim
To generate a theory explaining how patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and their partners experience and navigate the process of coping with dyspnoea-related kinesiophobia within everyday pulmonary rehabilitation and home-based disease management.
Methods
A qualitative study using constructivist grounded theory was conducted in the respiratory department of one large tertiary hospital and its affiliated community health service centre in Shanxi Province, China. Initial purposive sampling and subsequent theoretical sampling were used to recruit 21 couples, comprising clinically stable patients with COPD and kinesiophobia (operationally defined as Breathlessness Beliefs Questionnaire-Activity Avoidance subscale score >6) and their cohabiting partners. Data were collected through face-to-face dyadic interviews. Concurrent data analysis employed a constant comparative approach, facilitated by NVivo 12 software, to iteratively refine emerging codes and categories.