Analysis of the effect of continuity of care on the quality of life in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease : A literature review

Abstract: Background: In 2017, there were approximately 300 million people with COPD.Because COPD cannot be fully rehabilitated and causes a huge impact on patients'quality of life, the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Diseaserecommended long-term medication and disease management to urgently improvepatients' quality of life. Some studies have shown that continuing care is effective inimproving the quality of life.Aim: To explore the impact of continuity of care on the quality of life of patients withCOPD.Method: Articles were found by searching databases using different combinations ofsearch terms, including continuity of care, COPD, and quality of life. Through a seriesof exclusion and inclusion criteria, potential articles were identified for inclusion inquantitative synthesis. Two reviewers summarized the articles in the appendix andassessed their quality.Results: We presented a basic overview of the articles and the results of the studies inwhich there were multiple ways in which continuity of care affected quality of life.There were also many ways in which quality of life was represented, but all the studiesused scales or questionnaires to specify these criteria. The results of these studiesshowed that continuity of care had an impact on the quality of life of patients withCOPD.Conclusions: Continuing care has a positive impact on the quality of life of COPDpatients to a certain extent, as well as facilitating the recovery of respiratory functionand the restoration of mental health.Keywords: continuity of life, COPD, quality of life.