Depressive disorders in older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Hong Kong: a controlled study.

Objective: There have been few studies examining the relationship between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and psychiatric morbidity in Hong Kong. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of depressive disorders (major depression, dysthymia and adjustment disorder with depressed mood) in Chinese patients with COPD and explore their demographic and clinical correlates.

Method: A total of 146 patients aged 50 years and above with COPD and 220 age and gender matched control subjects without COPD formed the study sample. Data of demographic and clinical characteristics were collected by a form designed for this study. Activity of daily living was assessed by the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale and life events were evaluated by the Life Event Scale. Depressive disorders were determined using the Chinese version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV.

Results: The point prevalence of DSM-IV depressive disorders in patients with COPD and controls were 15.1% and 3.6%, respectively. Multivariate analyses revealed that female sex and severe impairment in daily activity functioning were independently associated with depressive disorders. Only 22.7% of the depressed COPD patients had consulted psychiatrists in the past three months.

Conclusion: Depressive disorders are significantly higher in COPD patients than controls. The low percentage of depressed patients with COPD seeking psychiatric treatment suggests that there is an unmet need in the psychiatric care of COPD patients.