Dyspnea self-management in African Americans with chronic lung disease

PURPOSE: To explore dyspnea self-management in African Americans with chron ic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or chronic restrictive pulmonary di sease resulting from sarcoidosis. DESIGN: Descriptive. SAMPLE: Convenience sample of 29 African Americans, 15 with COPD (forced ex piratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity = 53%), and 14 with sarco idosis (forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity = 88%; t otal lung capacity 62.4% of predicted), METHODS: Semistructured interviews. FINDINGS: Content analysis revealed 4 dyspnea self-management themes: (1) t raditional medical care, (2) self-care wisdom, (3) self-care action, and (4 ) self-care resources. Breathing strategies (a subtheme for self-care actio n) for patients with COPD focused on both inhalation and exhalation, wherea s patients with sarcoidosis described inhalation breathing strategies only. CONCLUSION: African Americans with chronic lung disease described use of di fferent breathing strategies for COPD and sarcoidosis disorders. Both group s actively engaged in health-promoting activities for dyspnea management.