Depressive Disorders in COPD Patients - Economic Aspects

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one of the most important health problems and one of the most common chronic diseases. The occurrence of COPD is associated with a particular dimension of physical suffering, the source of which is the difficulty in breathing. A significant percentage of patients experience the mental consequences of illness such as depression and anxiety disorders. The aim of the study was to analyze the prevalence of depressive symptoms in patients with medium-severe and severe forms of COPD and to assess the cost of coexistence of depression in this group of patients. The retrospective study, based on medical records, included two groups of patients: Group 1- 63 persons and Group 2– 60 persons. The study evaluated the following parameters: degree of severity of COPD according to Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), degree of severity of dyspnea using the mMRC scale of dyspnea developed by the Medical Research Council and occurrence of depressive symptoms and their severity using the Beck Depression Scale questionnaire. Patients were treated at the CENTER for Respiratory Medicine between January 2016 and December 2016. Results of our study showed that in both treatment groups analysis of the answers received from the Beck’s Depression Scale questionnaire revealed that all these patients have depressive symptoms of varying severity.