The aim of the present study was to analyze the associations between COPD-specific anxiety and depressive symptoms in COPD patients. Anxiety, as well as depression, is a prevalent comorbid complication in COPD. Either can have a negative impact on patients' experience and the course of disease. So far, assessment in studies has exclusively focused on anxiety in general and not on disease-related fears. The present study comprised a sample of ninety-six patients suffering from COPD (GOLD III/IV). Results of the MANOVA showed higher COPD-specific anxiety in patients with depressive symptoms than in patients without depressive symptoms. Depressive patients showed a higher fear of social isolation, dyspnea related fear, fear of movement and fear of progression of disease. There were no differences between the two groups with regard to functional parameters (FEV 1 % pred.; 6-minute-walk-test). Overall, our study shows the necessity of the assessment of COPD-specific fears related to depression to guarantee an adequate treatment.
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.