Living with the risk of being infected: COPD patients' experiences during the coronavirus pandemic

Aims: To explore the existential significance of living with the risk of being infected with coronavirus in patients with COPD.

Background: Distancing measures aim to break the coronavirus transmission chains. Physical separation from social networks and social isolation are correlated with anxiety and depression. People with a chronic obstructive lung disease are particularly vulnerable due to the increased risk of a serious course of illness, so therefore many of them choose self-isolation to protect themselves from COVID-19.

Design: A qualitative exploratory study using individual semi-structured interviews.

Methods: From June–September 2020, 13 participants were recruited through advertisements on Facebook as a convenience sample for semi-structured individual interviews. The interviews took place through virtual platforms or in physical meetings. Data were analysed using Ricoeur's phenomenological approach, involving naïve reading, a structural analysis and a critical interpretation strategy. The study has been reported in line with COREQ guidelines.

Findings: Living with the threat of being infected with coronavirus has greatly affected everyday life for patients with COPD. The nagging fear of coronavirus as a death threat was a dominant feeling, together with anxiety, loneliness and hope. With self-isolation, followed concerns of being forgotten and thoughts of the future, balancing between fearing the worst, and hoping the best.

Conclusions: Patients with moderate to severe COPD feel compelled to self-isolate, as they fear dying from COVID-19. The study revealed a need for proactive contact with health professionals to calm the patients' feelings of deprivation, loneliness, hopelessness and anxiety.

Relevance to clinical practice: Information about the patient's perspective may be used to develop targeted interventions aimed at giving adequate information, supporting hope, implementing digital or virtual solutions to keep in contact and avoid the feeling of being alone and forgotten during a pandemic crisis.