Dyspnea, anxiety and death anxiety in individuals with COPD

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between dyspnea, anxiety and death anxiety levels of individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The research was conducted with 200 individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at Adana Seyhan State Hospital Chest Diseases Polyclinics between December 2022 and June 2023. The data of the study were collected with the Patient Information Form, which includes information about socio-demographic characteristics, disease and treatment, Death Anxiety Scale, Beck Anxiety Scale, Modified British Medical Research Council (MMRC) Dyspnea Scale and Modified Borg Scale. It was statistically analyzed using Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, Bonferroni and Spearman correlation tests. Of the individuals with COPD who participated in the study,73.0% men, 27.0% women, and mean age is 66.73±8.45. The mean BORG scale score of the individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease participating in the study was found to be 5.21±2.46, the mean MMRC scale score was 2.62±1.03, the mean Beck anxiety scale score was 17.87±7.96 and the mean death anxiety scale score was 10.07±4.02. It was found that the anxiety and death anxiety levels of individuals with high dyspnea levels were also high (p<0.001). It was determined that when the BORG value increased by 1 unit, the risk of severe/panic death anxiety was 44.3%, when the MMRC performance value increased by 1 unit, it was 39.6%, and when the Beck anxiety measurement value increased by 1 unit, the risk of severe/panic death anxiety was 15.3%. The study concluded that dyspnea, anxiety and death anxiety are high in patients with COPD. In line with our results at the end of the study, it may be recommended to plan evidence-based studies to reduce dyspnea, anxiety and death anxiety in individuals with COPD.