A new study shows that COPD patients experience significantly more psychiatric problems than those in the general population.
Canadian researchers conducted psychiatric interviews and spirometry testing among 62 women and 54 men who had stable COPD.
Results indicated that the overall prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 49%, a prevalence that is at least three times higher than that in the general population. Furthermore, psychiatric disorders were nearly two times higher in women than in men, while women also showed greater psychological distress, worse perceived control of symptoms, and greater functional impairment, despite having comparable COPD severity scores.
This study appears in the July issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.