慢性阻塞性肺病患者接受安寧療護相關因素之探討

Purposes The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been included in the eight non-cancer hospice care insurance payments, but the acceptance of hospice care in this population is unclear. Therefore, the aim of this article was to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and acceptance of hospice care in patients with COPD and to explore its related factors. Methods A cross-sectional relevance study design was adopted and 160 valid questionnaires were collected. The content of questionnaires had scales of knowledge, attitude, and acceptance in the hospice care. Results The average score of knowledge of the hospice care was 13.06 (Standard Deviation 3.29; range 5-20 points). The average score of attitude toward hospice care was 34.59 (Standard Deviation 5.56; range 17-44 points); and the average score of acceptance of the hospice care was 23.53 (Standard Deviation 6.36; range 9-34 points). Regarding gender difference, males were higher than females in the attitude toward hospice care. Regarding educational level, higher education levels were associated with favorable attitude toward hospice care than lower education levels. Regarding age difference, older people had lower knowledge, attitude, and acceptance of hospice care. The knowledge, attitude, and acceptance of patients who had heard about hospice care were significantly higher than patients who had never heard about it. The acceptance of patients with relatives or friends who died due to terminal disease was significantly higher than patients with relatives or friends who had not died due to terminal disease. The knowledge, attitude, and acceptance of those who were willing to accept hospice care was significantly higher than those who were not. The higher the knowledge score of hospice care, the more positive was the attitude and the higher was the acceptance. Conclusions This study attempted to help in early understanding of hospice care in COPD patients, and to provide better options of care in the end of life.