Identifying self-care needs of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to design a mobile phone application-based self-care program

BACKGROUND: Self-care programs based on mobile phone applications facilitate the management and control of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and identifying self-care needs is necessary for designing such programs. This study aims to identify the needs of COPD patients to design a self-care program based on a mobile phone application. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this multi-method study, the self-care needs of COPD patients were identified with two approaches: literature review and quantitative content analysis. Articles were extracted through a comprehensive review of studies from the past 10 years. Self-care needs were identified via semi-structured interviews with 18 participants. RESULTS: In the literature review, out of 1,671 articles retrieved, 27 were selected by removing duplicate and unrelated articles. In the qualitative research, three categories of educational needs were identified: the maintenance of psycho-emotional health, physical health, and effective communication and support. After combining the extracted needs, the patients' self-care requirements were categorized into three areas: physical health, enhancement and promotion of psycho-emotional well-being, and effective communication and connection with healthcare professionals, family, friends, and community. CONCLUSION: The needs identified in the present study were divided into three groups: the need to improve and enhance psycho-emotional status; the need to improve physical status; and the need to establish effective communication with healthcare professionals, family members, and community; which can be used in designing a self-care program based on a mobile application.