Treating depression may improve COPD outcome

NEW YORK, Jan 20 (Reuters) Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who suffer from depression have shorter survival times, suggesting that antidepressant or psychological interventions may improve their outcomes, researchers report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

''Depressive symptoms are common among patients with COPD, but depression's impact on COPD outcomes has not been fully investigated,'' Dr. Tze-Pin Ng from National University of Singapore and colleagues note in their report.

The researchers therefore conducted a study with 376 consecutive patients hospitalized for COPD. Most of the patients, who were an average of about 72 years old, were followed for 1 year. The prevalence of depression among the subjects at the time of first hospitalization was 44.4 per cent.

During follow-up, 57 patients (15.2 per cent) died and 202 (53.7 per cent) were re-hospitalized at least once.

After extensive analysis, the researchers found that depression was associated with an increased risk of death of nearly two-fold, which was unrelated to COPD severity, the presence of other illnesses, or behavioral, psychosocial or socioeconomic factors, Ng and colleagues report.

Depressed COPD patients compared with non-depressed COPD patients had longer hospital stays during the first admission and more total days in the hospital at 1 year.

The subjects with COPD were also significantly more likely to be persistent smokers at 6 months and to have worse symptoms, functional status and quality of life at the first hospitalization and 1 year later.

''Interventions that reduce depressive symptoms may potentially affect COPD outcomes,'' Ng and colleagues suggest.

''Trials of antidepressant and psychological interventions should provide conclusive evidence of improved survival, quality of life, and self-management behavior and reduced health care utilization.'' REUTERS SY KP0950