Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an irreversible progressive disease characterized by permanent airflow limitations and is a major public health problem worldwide.1 The incidence of COPD is increasing worldwide, and it is estimated to be the third leading cause of death in middle-income countries by 2030.2 The global prevalence of COPD is 10.3% worldwide and 5.8% in Türkiye.3,4

COPD self-management includes many management behaviors, such as smoking cessation, medication compliance, correct inhaler use, a healthy diet, and physical activity. COPD self-management also requires individuals to have the necessary skills to cope with shortness of breath and recognize early signs of exacerbation.5,6 Because of the progressive and severe symptom burden of COPD, multiple treatment processes, and pulmonary rehabilitation, informal caregivers with a supportive role may come into play for individuals to fulfill their self-care behaviors.7 This situation requires individuals with COPD and their caregivers to work together in managing the disease.8,9 It is important that both individuals with COPD and their caregivers have adequate knowledge to perform self-care appropriately and contribute to the disease management of the individual.7,10 However, studies have shown that patients with COPD have inadequate knowledge about many aspects of disease management, and similarly, although caregivers' knowledge about COPD is higher than that of patients, it is insufficient.7,10, 11, 12, 13

Studies have evaluated the level of COPD knowledge and related factors separately in samples of individuals with COPD and caregivers. The literature has shown that several factors (e.g., age, education level, socioeconomic status, duration of diagnosis, disease severity, depression level, etc.) affect the level of disease knowledge in individuals with COPD.8,13, 14, 15, 16 Similarly, in a few studies investigating the effect of caregiver characteristics on the level of knowledge about COPD, factors such as age, socioeconomic status, educational level, and caregiver type have been reported to be effective.7,11,17 Although these studies show the important factors that should be taken into consideration only for individuals with COPD or for those with caregiver characteristics, different dimensions may be in question when considering the patient–caregiver dyad. In a patient–caregiver dyad, two individuals interact with each other in many aspects, such as cognitive, psychological, social, and motivational aspects.7,18 In the data related to couples, it is important to consider the characteristics of both the patient and caregiver together because they are in mutual, long-term interactions, and their reactions to events depend on each other.7,18 However, studies evaluating the COPD knowledge levels of couples are limited.7,11 Investigating the level of knowledge about COPD in couples as well as individuals with COPD and their caregivers may be useful in determining which characteristics affect both their knowledge and that of the couple, along with what the scope of educational interventions that support self-care behaviors provided by health professionals can be according to the areas where knowledge is good and deficient. In this context, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the level of knowledge about COPD in patient-only, caregiver-only, and patient–caregiver dyads and to determine the factors related to patient or caregiver characteristics that predict the level of knowledge about COPD in each.