N2N Portal | | Irish Study Life with chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease: striving for ‘controlled co-existence’ Cooney
A; Mee L; Casey D; et al Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(7-8):
986–995   Aims and objectives: To understand the meaning of
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for people and
their response to this disease. Background: COPD is a major
cause of disability and death. The symptoms of COPD have the
potential to impact on every aspect of a person's day-to-day
life. To date most published qualitative studies have focused on
the ‘experience’ of breathlessness and its impact on the person.
Few studies have sought to ‘understand’ the meaning of COPD to
people and their response to this disease. This study aimed to
address this gap. Design: Straussian grounded theory guided
study design. Grounded theory was considered appropriate for
this study because of its focus on how people respond to and act
on the problems they encounter. Methods: Data were collected
through semi-structured interviews