Pattern and Prevalence of Psychiatric Morbidities among Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorders: A Cross-sectional Study from a Tertiary Care Hospital

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung condition characterized by progressive, partially reversible, preventable, and treatable breathing difficulties that typically worsen over time.Acute exacerbations and frequent comorbidities further contribute to the overall severity of the disease, making everyday activities such as walking or dressing challenging.Psychiatric disorders are increasingly prevalent among individuals with chronic illnesses like COPD.However, despite this trend, psychiatric comorbidities among COPD patients have been less extensively studied compared with general medical conditions.Aim: To study the pattern and prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities among patients with COPD.Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional, case-control study conducted in a tertiary care hospital after ethical committee approval.A total of 150 diagnosed COPD patients and matched controls were involved after taking their consent.Psychiatric comorbidities screening was done using MINI-7 tool and diagnosis was done using DSM-5.Data were entered in excel and tabulated in SPSS app.Results: We found higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders between the patient group and the control group with a significant p-value (<0.01) and with an odds ratio of 4.1.Major depressive disorder (MDD) was present in 38% of study population.Conclusion: Significant psychiatric comorbidities were present in COPD patients compared with controls.Timely intervention of psychiatric measures will improve the overall burden of COPD patients.