Original articleDaily Utility and Satisfaction With Rollators Among Persons With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Section snippets
Patients and Study Design
This was a cross-sectional observational study. Inclusion criteria comprised: (1) a medical diagnosis of COPD, (2) reports of dyspnea during activities of living, (3) the provision of a rollator by a health care professional within the preceding 5-year period, (4) currently living in the community, and (5) use of the rollator at least once over the preceding 1-month period. Exclusion criteria comprised: (1) a comorbid condition for which the rollator was prescribed, such as severe arthritis or
Results
Seventy-four patients were mailed a letter of invitation and 18 (24%) contacted the first author and expressed an interest in participating. Of these, 3 did not meet the study criteria, 2 were unable to be contacted to schedule an interview, and 13 completed the study. An additional 4 of these 74 patients agreed to participate following discussion with clinical staff during a scheduled visit to the hospital. Eleven other patients, identified by pulmonary rehabilitation staff were approached, 10
Discussion
This is the first study to address the satisfaction and utility of rollators in patients with COPD. The key findings of this study are: (1) approximately 60% of COPD patients provided with a rollator for use in the community used the device every day, (2) rollators were consistently used to assist with ambulation outdoors with less than half the patients using the rollator in their home, (3) almost half of the patients had been embarrassed by using the rollator, and (4) overall satisfaction
Conclusions
COPD patients with functional disability resulting from dyspnea reported frequent use of their rollator in the community. Use of the rollator to assist with ambulation outdoors exceeded its use indoors. Patients with COPD were highly satisfied with the device, however, women were less satisfied with its weight than men. From a practical standpoint, health care workers need to be aware that many women COPD patients will not be able to lift a rollator in and out of a car, without assistance. The
Acknowledgment
We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the staff at our hospital to the recruitment patients for this study.
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Cited by (0)
Supported by the Ontario Respiratory Care Society (grant no. 481320).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.