Anxiety (20-46% prevalence) and depression (25-40% prevalence) in stable COPD patients strongly correlate with poorer quality of life (r ≈ 0.30-0.50), increased exacerbations, and higher mortality.
Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent in COPD and substantially degrade quality of life, highlighting the need for routine screening and integrated management.
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.Psychological comorbidities, especially anxiety and depression, are common in COPD and strongly influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL), healthcare utilization, and clinical outcomes.Objectives: To provide a comprehensive narrative review of the prevalence, mechanisms, clinical consequences, assessment, and management of anxiety and depression in COPD, with a focus on implications for quality of life (QoL) and practice in India.Methods: Narrative synthesis of contemporary literature (2010-2025), including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, and pertinent observational studies.Results: Prevalence estimates vary by setting and assessment method, with pooled estimates suggesting that approximately 25-40% of stable COPD patients have clinically significant depressive symptoms and 20-46% have anxiety.Anxiety and depression correlate strongly with poorer QoL (pooled correlations: depression r ≈ 0.45-0.50;anxiety r ≈ 0.30-0.40),increased exacerbations, hospital admissions, worse adherence, and higher mortality.Mechanisms are multidimensional biological (inflammation, hypoxia), behavioral (inactivity, nonadherence), and cognitive/ affective (catastrophizing, reduced self-efficacy).Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), exercise interventions, cognitive-behavioral therapies, and targeted pharmacotherapy improve symptoms and HRQoL in many patients.Conclusions: Anxiety and depression substantially degrade QoL in COPD.Routine screening and integrated management-combining pulmonary, psychological, and social care-are essential.In India, scalable models using community health workers, telemedicine, and culturally adapted psychological interventions should be prioritized.
Raj et al. (Mon,) conducted a review in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Anxiety and depression was evaluated on Quality of Life (QoL). Anxiety (20-46% prevalence) and depression (25-40% prevalence) in stable COPD patients strongly correlate with poorer quality of life (r ≈ 0.30-0.50), increased exacerbations, and higher mortality.