Relation between Illness Acceptance and Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Introduction: Despite the advances in medicine, COPD is still leading, incurable and chronic respiratory disease. It greatly restricts the functioning of patients in terms of physical, emotional and social aspects, reducing significantly their quality of life. The study into quality of life in patients with COPD is becoming increasingly important as a valuable complement to the assessment of clinical status of the patient, the effects of therapy, effectiveness of educational programs, clinical evaluation of drugs, including the patient’s acceptance of the disease and treatment. Acceptance or lack thereof, can affect the healing process, result in the lack of cooperation and conscious participation of the patient in the therapeutic process, correlate negatively with different variables of treatment and may lead to the lack of cooperation between the patient and a therapeutic team. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation of acceptance of disease with quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Material and methods: The study included 105 patients (including 29 women). Analysis was used to examine the medical records, the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-Bref). Results: The results showed a significantly higher quality of life, in all domains of the questionnaire in patients with COPD who accept their illness to a high degree (AIS > 29). In the physical health domain, group I (lack of acceptance AIS 8−18) won 23.4 ± 13.7, group II (mean acceptance AIS 19−29) 47.9 ± 11.2, group III (high acceptance AIS > 29) 68.9 ± 12.8; p < 0.001. In the psychological domain, group I achieved 40.4 ± 9.2; group II 63.9 ± 9.7; group III 74.9 ± 10.1, in the social relationships domain, group I 48.4 ± 12.5; group II, 69.6 ± 12.7; group III 74.9 ± 10.1, in the environmental domain, group I 45.4 ± 10.7; group II, 62.3 ± 11.6; group III 71.5 ± 10.0) (p < 0.001). Patients with COPD highest rated their quality of life in the domain of social relationships 46.7 ± 19.6, and lowest in the domain of physical health 68.8 ± 18.4. Conclusions: Acceptance of the disease has a significant impact on the level of assessment of quality of life in patients with COPD—the higher acceptance, the higher rating of quality of life.