The relationship of depression in asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome

Keeping Sane in a Changing Climate: Assessing Psychologists' Preparedness, Exposure to Climate-Health Impacts, Willingness to Act on Climate Change, and Barriers to Effective Action

Evidence of the impact of climate change on mental health is growing rapidly, and healthcare professionals are being called to be active participants in protecting the population's health. Yet, little is known about psychologists' understanding of climate-health impacts and their role in mitigation actions. We surveyed Australian psychologists (N = 59) to examine preparedness in identifying and managing the impact of climate change on mental health, exposure to climate-health impacts, willingness to act, and barriers to acting on climate change. Data was analysed through descriptive and associative methods. We found that participants are not prepared to identify and manage mental health presentations related to climate change, and they are not engaged in climate change mitigation. We identified that a lack of knowledge of climate-health impacts and tackling and mitigation strategies, in addition to ethical concerns, were the main barriers to engagement with communication and advocacy. With the impacts of climate change on mental health expected to soar, there is a clear and urgent need to prepare the psychological workforce to address this public health issue by establishing professional education programs and reframing climate change as a health crisis.

Fatigue, Depression, and Anxiety in Patients with COPD, Asthma and Asthma-COPD Overlap

INTRODUCTION

Asthma and COPD are extremely common respiratory diseases that have a serious impact on people's lives around the world. A disease characterized by symptoms characteristic for asthma and COPD is called asthma-COPD overlap (ACO). Fatigue and certain psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression are important comorbidities in these diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of fatigue, anxiety, and depression in patients with asthma, COPD, and ACO and to also consider their mutual correlations.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A total of 325 patients were enrolled in the study. There were 159 women and 166 men and their mean age was 63. Two standardized questionnaires were used: the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).

RESULTS

The mean total MFIS score for all patients was 33.03. Patients with asthma generally scored lower than patients with COPD and ACO. There were no statistical differences in the HADS for anxiety between the groups, although around half of the patients registered a score indicating some level of disorder. Patients with COPD and ACO were proven to suffer more from depression than patients with asthma. The HADS and MFIS scores were found to correlate significantly and positively.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that patients with COPD, asthma, and ACO generally suffered from an increased level of fatigue and depression. Anxiety was high in all groups, but it was at a similar level for patients suffering from each of the three diseases under consideration. It is important to treat the physical symptoms as well as the psychological disorders since they greatly impact on the patient outcomes.

Comparison of Characteristics Between ICS-Treated COPD Patients and ICS-Treated COPD Patients with Concomitant Asthma: A Study in Primary Care

Background and Objective

Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) for COPD has been much debated. Our aim was to identify characteristics associated with prescribing ICS for patients with COPD alone compared to those with concomitant asthma in general practice.

Patients and Methods

Participating general practitioners (GPs) (n=144) recruited patients with COPD (ICPC 2nd ed. code R95) currently prescribed ICS (ACT code R03AK and R03BA). Data, if available, on demographics, smoking habits, spirometry, COPD medication, dyspnea score, and exacerbation history were retrieved from the medical records. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify possible differences in characteristics between patients with COPD alone compared to those having a concomitant diagnosis of asthma.

Results

A total of 2.289 (45% males) COPD patients on ICS were recruited. Compared to patients with COPD alone (n=1.749), those with COPD and concomitant asthma (n=540) were younger (p<0.001), had higher BMI, higher FEV1/FVC ratio, higher blood eosinophil count and less life-time tobacco exposure (36 and 26 pack-years, respectively). Compared to COPD alone, logistic regression analysis showed that COPD with concomitant asthma was significantly associated to age (OR 0.94; CI 0.92 to 0.97; p<0.001), pack-years of smoking (OR 0.98; CI 0.97 to 0.99; p<0.001), %pred (OR 1.02; CI 1.00 to 1.03; p=0.005), and doctor-diagnosed depression (OR 2.59; CI 1.20 to 5.58; p=0.015).

Conclusion

In COPD patients currently prescribed ICS, the presence of concomitant asthma was associated with being younger, having less tobacco exposure, more preserved lung function and a higher likelihood of doctor-diagnosed depression compared to COPD alone.

The many faces of asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common diseases that often overlap. The term asthma-COPD overlap (ACO) has been used to define this entity but there remain several speculations on its exact definition, impact, pathophysiology, clinical features, and management. We reviewed recent publications on ACO to obtain more insight of current knowledge and outline future needs.

RECENT FINDINGS

Criteria for ACO vary from one publication to another and the many variable features of these patients underline the need to reconsider the evaluation and approach of patients with overlapping features based on clinical traits and underlying biological mechanisms. Epidemiological studies reveal that ACO patients have generally an increased burden of illness and healthcare use in addition to poorer quality of life (QoL) compared with asthma and higher or equal to COPD. However, their long-term outcome seems better than patients with COPD alone. Various methods have been proposed to evaluate these patients but their usefulness compared to 'classical' investigation of obstructive lung diseases remains speculative and needs further evaluation. Furthermore, there are no formal studies that examined and compared the different treatment strategies of well-characterized patients with ACO as such patients are usually excluded from clinical trials.

SUMMARY

ACO is a common condition with variable features and a high burden of disease. There is no consensus on its definition, diagnostic, and clinical features and more research should be done on its optimal management and long-term outcomes.

Associations Between Somatic Multimorbidity Patterns and Depression in a Longitudinal Cohort of Middle-Aged and Older Chinese

OBJECTIVES

Depressive symptoms are commonly seen among patients with multiple chronic somatic conditions, or somatic multimorbidity (SMM); however, little is known about the relationships between depressive symptoms and different SMM combinations. Our study aimed to delineate the patterns of SMM and their longitudinal associations with depressive symptoms among a nationally representative sample of middle-aged and older Chinese adults.

DESIGN

We employed a longitudinal design.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Older adults (N = 10,084) aged ≥45 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011-2015 participated (mean age = 57.7 years at baseline; 53.3% men).

METHODS

Sixteen chronic somatic conditions were ascertained at baseline via questionnaires. Depression was assessed with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale at baseline and during follow-up. Patterns of SMM were identified via exploratory factor analyses. Generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate the longitudinal associations between patterns of SMM and the presence of depressive symptoms at follow-up.

RESULTS

Compared with participants with no somatic condition, those with 1, 2, and 3 or more somatic conditions had a 21%, 66%, and 111% greater risk, respectively, for the presence of depressive symptoms. Increased factor scores for 4 patterns identified, cardio-metabolic pattern [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06, 1.20], respiratory pattern (AOR 1.25, 95% CI 1.17, 1.33), arthritic-digestive-visual pattern (AOR 1.29, 95% CI 1.22, 1.37), and hepatic-renal-skeletal pattern (AOR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02, 1.16), were all associated with a higher risk of having depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

All SMM patterns were independently associated with depression among middle-aged and older Chinese adults, with greater odds for people with comorbid arthritic-digestive-visual conditions and respiratory conditions. Clinical practitioners should treat the middle-aged and older population under a multiple-condition framework combining SMM and mental disorders.

Effects of statins on anxiety and depression in patients with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome

BACKGROUND

The effects of statins on anxiety and depression in patients with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome (ACOS) have not been reported. This population-based study investigated these effects.

METHODS

Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database between 2000 and 2010. We enrolled two ACOS cohorts, one of statin users (n = 1252) and one of nonstatin users matched by age, sex, and index date (n = 7887). The cumulative incidence of anxiety and depression was analyzed using time-dependent Cox proportional regression analysis.

RESULTS

After adjustment for multiple confounding factors, including age, sex, comorbidities, and medications-statins, inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs), and oral steroids (OSs)-the ACOS cohort with statin use had significantly lower risks of anxiety and depression (anxiety: adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 0.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.28-0.42; depression: aHR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.25-0.53). The aHRs (95% CIs) for statin use with ICSs or OSs were 0.32 (0.13-0.78) and 0.37 (0.24-0.57), respectively.

CONCLUSION

The ACOS cohort with statin use had lower risks of anxiety and depression, regardless of age, sex, commodities, or ICSs and OSs. The incidences of anxiety and depression were relatively low among users of statins with ICSs or OSs in the ACOS cohort.

Differences in the risk of mood disorders in patients with asthma-COPD overlap and in patients with COPD alone: a nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study in Korea

BACKGROUND

Although feelings of anxiety and depression are common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), little is known about the estimates of their incidence in patients with asthma-COPD overlap (ACO), which has been described and acknowledged as a distinct clinical entity. We aimed to estimate the risk of depression and anxiety among patients with ACO and compare it with the risk among those with COPD alone in the general population.

METHODS

We conducted a nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study using the Korean National Sample Cohort database between 1 January, 2002, and 31 December, 2013. Patients who were diagnosed with COPD (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision [ICD-10] codes J42-J44) at least twice and prescribed COPD medications at least once between 2003 and 2011 were classified into two categories: patients who were diagnosed with asthma (ICD-10 codes J45-J46) more than twice and at least once prescribed asthma medications comprised the ACO group, and the remaining COPD patients comprised the COPD alone group. Patients who had been diagnosed with depression or anxiety within a year before the index date were excluded. We defined the outcome as time to first diagnosis with depression and anxiety. Matched Cox regression models were used to compare the risk of depression and anxiety among patients with ACO and patients with COPD alone after propensity score matching with a 1:1 ratio.

RESULTS

After propensity score estimation and matching in a 1:1 ratio, the cohort used in the analysis included 15,644 patients. The risk of depression during the entire study period was higher for patients with ACO than for patients with COPD alone (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.18; P value = 0.0039), with an elevated risk in patients aged 40-64 years (1.21; 1.10-1.34; 0.0001) and in women (1.18; 1.07-1.29; 0.0005). The risk of anxiety was higher for patients with ACO than for patients with COPD alone (1.06; 1.01-1.12; 0.0272), with a higher risk in patients aged 40-64 years (1.08; 1.00-1.17; 0.0392); however, the risk was not significant when stratified by sex.

CONCLUSIONS

This population-based study revealed a higher incidence of depression and anxiety in patients with ACO than in patients with COPD alone.

Asthma COPD overlap: Impact of associated comorbidities

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common chronic pulmonary conditions worldwide which often coexist. Patients with asthma COPD overlap (ACO) may have worse outcomes than those with either disease alone, for example, more respiratory symptoms and frequent exacerbations, and worse lung function. Additionally, there is a growing interest in factors that affect the disease including comorbid conditions. Indeed, recent studies have demonstrated higher rates of comorbid conditions in the ACO population, but the mechanisms behind these observations remain unclear. The objective of this review is to describe current knowledge and clinical implications of the overlapping features of asthma and COPD, and discuss the prevalence and impact of comorbidities, such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and depression, in this subgroup of patients.