Dyspnea self-management in African Americans with chronic lung disease

Purpose: To explore dyspnea self-management in African Americans with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or chronic restrictive pulmonary disease resulting from sarcoidosis. Design: Descriptive. Sample: Convenience sample of 29 African Americans, 15 with COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity = 53%), and 14 with sarcoidosis (forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity = 88%; total lung capacity 62.4% of predicted). Methods: Semistructured interviews. Findings: Content analysis revealed 4 dyspnea self-management themes: (1) traditional medical care, (2) self-care wisdom, (3) self-care action, and (4) self-care resources. Breathing strategies (a subtheme for self-care action) for patients with COPD focused on both inhalation and exhalation, whereas patients with sarcoidosis described inhalation breathing strategies only. Conclusion: African Americans with chronic lung disease described use of different breathing strategies for COPD and sarcoidosis disorders. Both groups actively engaged in health-promoting activities for dyspnea management. (Heart Lung® 2000;29:50-5)