Anxiety, Depression May Increase Risk of Acute Exacerbation in COPD

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may experience an acute exacerbation of their illness if they have depression and/or anxiety, suggests astudy in theJournal of Affective Disorders.Guangxi Li, M.D., Ph.D., of Guang'anmen Hospital at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in Beijing and colleagues interviewed 504 adults with COPD who visited the pulmonary clinic at the hospital from January 2012 through July 2013. The patients completed the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) to screen for depression and anxiety symptoms. Those with an SAS score of 50 or more were considered to have anxiety. Those with an SDS score of 53 or more were considered to have depression. The researchers defined an acute exacerbation of COPD as an acute event that worsened a patient ’s respiratory symptoms of COPD beyond normal day-to-day variation and led to a change in at least one of three medications such as antibiotics, corticosteroids, or bronchodilators. The researchers determined acute exacerbations from the patients’ case records from February to August 2014.Just over 54% of patients with anxiety experienced an acute exacerbation of their COPD compared with about 40% of patients without anxiety. About 52% of patients with depression experienced an acute exacerbation of their COPD compared with slightly more than 40% of those without depression. Overall, the risk of acute exacerbation was 60% higher in patients with anxiety...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: acute exacerbation of COPD anxiety chronic obstructive pulmonary disease depression Journal of Affective Disorders Source Type: research