Two Interventions for Patients with Major Depression and Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Impact on Dyspnea-Related Disability

•Both PID-C and PSA led to improvement or no worsening of dyspnea-related disability in patients with major depression and severe COPD.•Exploratory latent class growth modeling identified two distinct dyspnea-related disability trajectories.•Dyspnea-related disability improved in 39% of patients and remained unchanged in the rest.•Patients whose dyspnea-related disability improved had severe disability and weak sense of control over their condition at baseline.•PID-C is compatible with the expertise of clinicians working in community-based rehabilitation programs and can become part of the care of depressed COPD patients. The Personalized Intervention for Depressed Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (PID-C) is an intervention aiming to help patients adhere to their rehabilitation and care. This study tested the hypothesis that the Problem-Solving Adherence (PSA) intervention, which integrates problem-solving into adherence enhancement procedures, reduces dyspnea-related disability more than PID-C. Exploratory analyses sought to identify patients with distinct dyspnea-related disability trajectories and to compare their clinical profiles. In this randomized controlled trial in an acute inpatient rehabilitation and community, 101 participants diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and major depression were included after screening 633 consecutive admissions for acute inpatient rehabilitation. Participants underwent 14 sessions of PID-C versus PSA over 26 weeks using the Pulmonary Functional Status and Dyspnea Questionnaire. The study hypothesis was not supported. Exploratory latent class growth modeling identified two distinct disability trajectories. Dyspnea-related disability improved in 39% of patients and remained unchanged in the rest. Patients whose dyspnea-related disability improved had more severe disability and less sense of control over their condition at baseline. Improvement or no worsening of disability was noted in both treatment groups. This is a favorable course for depressed patients with a severe, deteriorating medical illness. PID-C is compatible with the expertise of clinicians working in community-based rehabilitation programs, and after further testing in the community, it can be integrated in the care of depressed COPD patients.