Objective To explore the heterogeneous factors of dyspnea fear in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and analyze the differences in quality of life (QOL) among different patients with heterogeneity.

Methods A total of 194 COPD patients were selected as the study subjects. The general demographic questionnaires and Dyspnea Belief Questionnaire were used to investigate the patients. Latent profile analysis was employed to examine the heterogeneity of dyspnea fear, the potential classification of dyspnea fear in COPD patients was investigated, and the influencing factors of the potential classification of dyspnea fear in COPD patients were analyzed using logistic regression models.

Results The dyspnea fear in COPD patients was divided into three potential categories: low fear group, moderate fear group and excessive fear group. The significant differences were observed in smoking, sedentary habits, disease stage, degree of dyspnea, anxiety, depression, self-efficacy and coping style scores among patients with different potential categories of dyspnea fear (P ＜ 0.05). The results of logistic regression analysis revealed that the smoking, sedentary habits, disease stage, degree of dyspnea, anxiety, depression, self-efficacy and coping style scores were the influencing factors of the dyspnea fear category in COPD patients (P ＜ 0.05). The significant differences were also observed in QOL scores among patients with different potential categories of dyspnea fear (P ＜ 0.01).

Conclusions There is group heterogeneity in the level of dyspnea fear among COPD patients, and the significant differences in QOL scores exist among patients with different categories. Healthcare professionals should develop and implement intervention programs based on homogeneous groups of COPD patients with dyspnea fear, taking into account individual category characteristics.