You may think managing COPD is only about taking medication when symptoms flare up. But it's also about sticking to a daily treatment plan – called treatment adherence – which can help you breathe better and avoid serious health problems.
What Is Treatment Adherence?
Treatment adherence means how closely you follow your doctor's instructions. This includes taking the right amount of medicine, at the right time, and as often as prescribed. It can also involve following lifestyle suggestions that are part of your treatment plan.
Why Does Treatment Adherence Matter With COPD?
Sticking to your COPD treatment plan helps you feel better, stay out of the hospital, and even lowers your chance of death. Here's why staying on track matters:
Fewer hospital visits. Use your treatments, such as inhalers, every day. This can lower your risk of a serious flare-up that sends you to the hospital.
Better breathing. Take your COPD medicine as prescribed. This can ease symptoms like shortness of breath, may reduce flares, and can help your lungs work as well as possible.
Lower risk of death. People who stick to their treatment plan over time tend to live longer than those who don't.
Improved quality of life. You're more likely to feel better, stay active, and manage daily tasks more easily.
Lower costs. Following your treatment plan can help you avoid emergency care and expensive hospital stays.
What Can You Expect From Your COPD Treatment Plan?
While you can't cure COPD, you can manage it with the right mix of medicine, daily habits, and support.
Most COPD treatment plans focus on keeping your symptoms stable day to day. This usually includes using maintenance inhalers every day to keep your airways open, staying up to date on vaccines to avoid infections, and making lifestyle changes.
"The biggest thing to slow your COPD or improve your lung function is quitting smoking," says Disha Awasthi, MD, a pulmonary and critical care medicine specialist at CLS Health in Sugar Land, Texas.
She also highlighted the importance of nutrition, especially as COPD gets worse. You may find you're eating less and losing weight, so you'll need enough protein and calories to stay strong.
Staying active is also critical, and your health care team could also teach you breathing techniques or ways to clear mucus from your lungs.
You'll also need regular checkups so your doctor can track your progress and change treatment if needed.
What Are Common Barriers to COPD Treatment Adherence?
Many people with COPD don't take their medications as prescribed. Research shows that in over half of the studies reviewed, more than 50% of people with the condition weren't following their treatment plans. There are many reasons why you may not stick with your treatment, including:
Complicated treatment. You may have to use more than one inhaler, follow different schedules, and learn the correct technique, which can be confusing or hard to manage.
Forgetting or a lack of understanding. You may simply forget to take your medicine, don't fully understand how COPD works, or why daily treatment is important.
Thinking you don't need medicine. You may stop taking your medicine when you feel better and only start using it again when your symptoms get worse.
Cost. "Some inhalers are really expensive, and patients just cannot afford them," Awasthi says. This can make you skip doses or delay refills.
Poor communication with your doctor. If your doctor doesn't give clear explanations or enough time to talk, you might feel uncertain about your care.
How Can You Stay on Track With Your COPD Treatment?
Here are some practical ways you can stick to your COPD treatment:
Medication and health management
Set reminders. Use alerts on your phone, smartwatch, or voice assistant device to make sure you don't miss doses. And create a routine by linking medication to daily tasks like brushing your teeth.
Keep regular checkups. Routinely visit your doctor, even if you feel well, to track how well your lungs are working.
Create a COPD action plan. Work with your doctor to create a written plan that outlines what to do based on your symptoms.
Vaccinate. Get regular flu, COVID-19, and pneumonia vaccines to avoid infections that worsen your symptoms.
Lifestyle and symptom management
Avoid triggers. Do your best to avoid tobacco smoke, dust, chemicals, and intense air pollution.
Get active. Regular exercise and pulmonary rehab can help build your endurance.
Practice breathing techniques. Learn and practice techniques such as pursed-lip breathing to manage breathlessness.
Keep a healthy weight. Losing weight eases pressure on your lungs, while eating healthy food gives you the energy needed for daily breathing.
Clear your airways. Use controlled coughing, and stay hydrated.
What Happens if You Don't Follow Your COPD Treatment Plan?
Not following your COPD treatment plan may make the condition get worse faster and lead to flare-ups more often. These periods, when breathing suddenly becomes much harder, can be serious enough to need emergency care. Skipping daily medications, especially maintenance inhalers, makes these episodes more likely.
"If you're not taking your inhalers, you start feeling like you can't take deep breaths," Awasthi says. "Then the wheezing starts, then the cough – and those are the trigger symptoms of a COPD exacerbation."
Untreated COPD can also lead to serious health problems. Your lungs can't provide enough oxygen to your blood or remove enough carbon dioxide (called respiratory failure). The strain on your body can raise your chances of heart problems and other lung complications, such as pneumonia or pulmonary hypertension.
You may also feel more tired, cough more, and struggle with everyday tasks like walking or showering. Living with worsening symptoms can take a toll on your mental health, leading to anxiety or depression. In many cases, not sticking to treatment also leads to more hospital visits, which can be stressful and expensive, compared to staying on a regular treatment plan.
When Should You Talk to Your Doctor?
You should talk to your doctor about your COPD treatment plan if you notice changes in your symptoms, such as shortness of breath that's gotten worse, more coughing, or lower oxygen levels. These can all be early signs of a serious flare-up.
If you're unsure about your inhaler technique or you feel like your medicines are no longer working well, contact your doctor right away.
Show Sources
Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images
SOURCES:
Disha Awasthi, MD, pulmonary and critical care medicine specialist, CLS Health, Sugar Land, Texas.
Journal of Clinical Medicine: "Understanding Treatment Adherence in Chronic Diseases: Challenges, Consequences, and Strategies for Improvement."
Nurse Prescribing: "Medication adherence in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease."
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Abbott: "Medication adherence as the keystone in COPD management success."
National Health Service (U.K.): "Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)."
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National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: "Living With COPD."
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Comprehensive Cancer Centers: "The Risks of Leaving COPD Untreated."
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Merck Manual: "Respiratory Failure."
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