Relationship between daily life activity, depression, anxiety and disease levels in copd patients

Introduction and Purpose: COPD is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and it leads to economic and social burdens at significant and increasing levels. We aimed to investigate the relationship between daily living activities and depression, anxiety and disease levels in patients with COPD in our study. Materials and Methods: The research population constitutes patients diagnosed with COPD who come to the Polyclinic of Chest Diseases of Balcalı Hospital of Çukurova University Medical Faculty and patients with COPD who came to randomly selected family health centers in the province of Adana on the dates of the research (01.08.2016 - 28.02.2017). Socio-demographic information form, mMRC dyspnea scale, COPD Assessment Test (CAT), London Chest Activity of Daily Living (LCADL) scale and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were applied. The collected data were evaluated by using statistical program. Results: In the study, 63 (52.9%) patients from the chest diseases policlinic and 56 (47.1%) patients from the family medicine policlinics were included. 94 participants were male (79%) and 25 were female (21%). Thirteen people (10.9%) who never smoked during their lifetime, 67 people (56,3%) who left the cigarette and 39 people (32,8%) were still smoking from the patients who participated in the study. There were 19 clinical cases (16%) and 100 (84%) normal cases for anxiety and 35 clinical cases (29.4%) and 84 (70.6%) normal cases for depression in the whole group. The correlation coefficient between the total score of daily living activity scale and anxiety was found as r: ,289, and there is a weak level meaningful relationship between them (p<0,01). The correlation coefficient between daily life activity scale total score and depression was found as r:, 259, and there is a weak level meaningful relationship between them (p<0,01). The correlation coefficient between total daily activity score and CAT total score was calculated as r: ,552, and there is a moderate level meaningful relationship between them (p<0,01). Conclusion: This study concluded that daily life activity in COPD patients correlates poorly with depression and anxiety, and moderately correlates with disease severity. We are of the opinion that anxiety, depression and the degree of illness affect the activities of daily living in COPD patients, even if they are poor or moderate, so these patients should be treated with holistic approach. Key words: COPD, Depression, Anxiety, Family Medicine, Daily Life Activity