True aspect of life with asthma

TRUE ASPECT OF LIFE WITH ASTHMA
Selma ONCEL¹, Zeynep CANLI OZER², Mualla YILMAZ^3
1Akdeniz University, Antalya School of Health, Dept. of Public Health Nursing, Antalya/ TURKEY
² Akdeniz University, Antalya School of Health, Dept. of Medical Nursing
³ Marmara University, Zeynep Kamil School of Health, Istanbul/ TURKEY
Introduction: Asthma as a concept should be comprehended clearly to understand its personal and social effects.
Aim: to investigate viewpoints of asthmatics to their diseases.
Material and Method: Among the asthmatics that are under routine control of Akdeniz University Hospital, 23 participated in this study. Phenomenological methodology was used and sociodemographic characteristics were determined at first. Then, in order to determine their feelings and thoughts on asthma, every participant was asked to write a letter to answer this question: “If asthma was a friend of yours, what would you like to write to it in a letter?” Data were analysed using continuous comparative method of Coloizzi (1978). For this purpose, each researcher read the letters separately and determined the highlighted points. Similar statements were classified under the same theme groups.
Results: Mean age was 41.43± 6.23 years and 69.6% were female. Other demographic characteristics are as follows: (73.9 %) married, (34.8%) primary school graduate and (34.7%) civil servant (no insurance problem). The statements of asthmatics were formulated in following themes: “time is one of the most important factors to accept the disease”, “it’s hard to be an asthmatic”, “asthma leads a discrimination”, “I don’t like asthma, so I can’t be a friend with it”, “One day I may recover from asthma”, “fear of death”, “asthma means limitation of life” “continuous worry, anxiety and fear”, and “asthma means frequent hospitalisation”.
Conclusion: Asthmatic patients need psychosocial support since they believe that there is no exact treatment for asthma and attacks are inevitable.