Depression and Health-Related Quality of Life in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract Background Prior research on the risk of depression in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has yielded conflicting results. Furthermore, we have an incomplete understanding of how much depression versus respiratory factors contributes to poor health-related quality of life. Methods Among 1202 adults with COPD and 302 demographically matched referents without COPD, depressive symptoms were assessed using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Score. We measured COPD severity using a multifaceted approach, including spirometry, dyspnea, and exercise capacity. We used the Airway Questionnaire 20 and the Physical Component Summary Score to assess respiratory-specific and overall physical quality of life, respectively. Results In multivariate analysis adjusting for potential confounders including sociodemographics and all examined comorbidities, COPD subjects were at higher risk for depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Score ≥6) than referents (odds ratio [OR] 3.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.1-6.1; P