Psychological distress in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

• Published in: Stress and health Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 115 - 122
• Main Authors: Karadag, Fisun, Ozcan, Hatice, Eskin, Mehmet, Karul, Aslihan B., Ceylan, Emel, Tufek, Yasemin, Cildag, Orhan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-04-2008; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: ACTH; Biological and medical sciences; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma; cortisol; Emotional disorders; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Illness and personality; Illness, stress and coping; Medical sciences; Pneumology; psychological distress; Psychology and medicine; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Stress; Studies; Human; Corticosteroid; Lung disease; Steroid hormone; Respiratory disease; Antiinflammatory agent; ACTH; Male; Exposure; Hydrocortisone; Glucocorticoid; Stress; cortisol; Adrenocorticotropic hormone; Life events; Adenohypophyseal hormone; Psychological distress; Adrenal hormone; Bronchus disease; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• ISSN: 1532-3005; 1532-2998
• DOI: 10.1002/smi.1178

Stress is defined as the exposure of an individual to a threatening stimulus or overwhelming event. Increased rates of psychological distress have been established in patients with chronic diseases compared to healthy individuals. The objective of the present study is to assess the indicators and correlates of psychological distress in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.
We evaluated the stress exposure (stressful events that COPD patients and control subjects had been exposed) by a life events checklist and psychological distress by General Health Questionnaire in 74 COPD patients and 30 control subjects. Serum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol levels were measured as biochemical indicators of stress.
Distress score was higher in COPD group compared to age‐matched controls, although the stress exposure score were not statistically different; indicating that COPD itself is a source of distress. 92% of COPD patients and 87% of control subjects had varying degrees of distress. Severe distress was more frequent in COPD group. Distress score was further increased in patients with severe COPD and severe hypoxemia.There was no significant difference in serum ACTH and cortisol levels of COPD patients and control subjects and distress scores were not correlated to serum ACTH and cortisol levels. However, serum cortisol was higher in patients with severe hypoxemia.
These findings support the importance of screening for psychological distress symptoms in COPD outpatients. Since high degree of distress contributes to impaired quality of life and added morbidity, patients with COPD need a comprehensive care including a psychological evaluation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.