Aims: To analyse if rehabilitation treatment can enhance perceived self-efficacy in performance of daily living activities in patients affected by chronic respiratory diseases (prevalently over 65 years of age and living in a poor socio-cultural context). METHODS. One-hundred and fifteen inpatients undergoing rehabilitation in hospital were administered two questionnaires: the A-D scale which evaluates state anxiety and depressive symptoms, and the Self-Efficacy and Independent Daily Living (SEIDL) questionnaire which evaluates expected self-efficacy in performing daily living activities. SEIDL was re-administered by phone after patients' discharge home, asking about their perceived actual self-efficacy in that moment.
Results: Subjects showed significantly higher scores on the A-D scale compared to the Italian normative sample. Females had lower expectations of self-efficacy than males (p = 0.000) and had a lower perception of their effective self-efficacy at follow-up (p = 0.01). State anxiety and depressive symptoms showed a significant negative correlation with expected self-efficacy and perceived self-efficacy at follow-up.
Conclusions: Adequate psychological assessment is necessary before the start of rehabilitation treatment, as emotional disturbances can cancel the beneficial effects of rehabilitation. The creation of community day-centres would also be opportune, to support people affected by chronic respiratory diseases who may experience increased emotional disturbances when family support is lacking or insufficient.