Educação em Saúde na Doença Pulmonar Obstrutiva Crônica (DPOC): estudo observacional

Abstract

Introduction: Health education comprises a set of human social practices that must generate phenomena that are constituent of social relations. This practice has been shown to be fundamental for the understanding of individuals about the physical and psychological changes caused by diseases. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is a serious public health problem, depends on health education measures for its control. Objective: To investigate if a group of individuals with COPD under pneumological medical treatment receive information about their disease. Methods: Observational, descriptive, analytical study, consisting of the application and analysis of a semistructured questionnaire for the evaluation of individuals' knowledge about COPD. The collected data was all recorded and analyzed in Google Docs. Microsoft Excel® software was directed to the calculation of statistical measures. For the analysis of the characterization of the participants of the research was used the frequency distribution for the data grouped by the Sturges Formula. Results: This study provided information on what information a group of individuals with COPD under medical treatment in a university hospital have about COPD and where they see such information. The interviews were individuals with mean age of 70 years, mostly women, with basic and medium education level and mean diagnosis time of 6.8 years. Most of the sample reported having knowledge and awareness about the disease, most of them being informed by doctors, followed by physiotherapists. Conclusion: In general, patients with COPD received general and relevant information about the disease, mainly by their physicians. However, important points such as the practice of physical activity, nutrition and pulmonary rehabilitation were still little discussed. Despite the role of the Ministry of Health in health education, individuals were better informed by their doctors than by public campaigns about the disease.It is worth emphasizing the knowledge of the profile and the ecosystem context of the individual is important to draw communication strategies on COPD.