The effect of frailty level on acceptance of illness in older people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study is to examine the effect of frailty level on acceptance of illness in older people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. A descriptive and correlational design was used. Materials and Methods: The sample comprised 311 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease patients aged 65 years and older who applied to the Chest Diseases outpatient clinics of the Chest Diseases and Surgery Hospital between February-April 2018. The Individual Diagnostic Form, the Edmonton Frailty Scale, and the Acceptance of Illness Scale were used. The Statistical Package for Social Science 23.0 was used for analysing the data. Results: The mean age of the patients included in the study was 71.7 ± 6.0, and 74% of the patients were male. The mean score of frailty of the patients was found to be 5.00±3.36, and 49.8% were not frail. The mean score of acceptance of illness was 26.99±8.44. According to the results of the study, there was a strong negative correlation between the level of frailty and the level of acceptance of illness in older people (p<0.05; r=-0.747); the explanatory power of the relationship between the level of frailty and acceptance of illness is 55.6% (R2 = 0.556, p<0.001). Conclusion: It is thought that the increase in the acceptance of illness level of the older people significantly associated with the decrease in frailty.