Reducing Fear and Anxiety in exacerbation of COPD.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The feasibility of using psychological interventions in reducing fear and anxiety in patients with exacerbations of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
IRAS ID
115943
Contact name
David Halpin
Contact email
Research summary
We propose to recruit patients with COPD who have had a recent exacerbation and their carers to take part in a qualitative study. The aims would be 1) to determine the contribution that fear and anxiety have in the decisions to call emergency services and the subsequent admission; 2) to assess the acceptability of psychological interventions in reducing fear and anxiety during an exacerbation.
Patients will be recruited from hospital wards at the RD&E after admission with an exacerbation of COPD. We plan to recruit 20-30 patients into the study. Patients will be identified using admission records by DH/Registrar and approached when clinically stable. The interview will explore events leading up to the admission and what contribution fear and anxiety made during this period. The effect of being in hospital on reducing fear and anxiety will be explored. The interviewer will explain that fear and anxiety can make breathing worse and that strategies to reduce anxiety may help breathing. Different psychological techniques will be described and the patients’ responses to these approaches will be documented.
Interviews will be transcribed and transcripts read by two of the applicants and core themes identified. These themes will be further analysed using qualitative content analysis and constant comparison methods.
Following this, patients and carers will be recruited from the RD&E Pulmonary Rehabilitation Group to take part in two focus groups. The schedule will present the findings from the individual patient interviews. The interventions described in the Interview will be presented and demonstrated to the groups by a psychologist.
The interviews and focus groups will provide rich data around the importance of fear and anxiety during an exacerbation and the acceptability of psychological interventions. This study is preliminary intervention development work towards evaluating an intervention to reduce fear and anxiety during COPD exacerbations.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/WM/0269
Date of REC Opinion
24 Jul 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion