Can the curse of mood disorders in COPD be lifted and enable pulmonary rehabilitation?

Extract Pulmonary rehabilitation is not only strongly recommended for people with COPD by a new American Thoracic Society clinical practice guideline [1], it is championed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in new recommendations for payers/commissioners [2]. Mood disorders such as anxiety and depression are highly prevalent in COPD (estimated between 13% and 46%, increasing with severity of COPD [3]) and, importantly, are associated with increased healthcare utilisation, worse quality of life and reduced survival [4]. Pulmonary rehabilitation is effective at improving anxiety and depression [5] and the recent WHO 2023 guidance on cardiopulmonary rehabilitation (module 4) specifically recommends pulmonary rehabilitation to improve the mental health of people with COPD [2].
Source: European Respiratory Journal - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Editorials Source Type: research