Clinical and personality profiles and survival in patients with COPD.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the relationship of personality and clinical characteristics with survival in patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).


METHODS
Prospective double-blind study.


METHODS
Outpatient clinic of a teaching Veterans Affairs Hospital in central New York. PATIENT PARTICIPATION: Sixteen male patients (mean age, 62.2 +/- 2.5 years) with severe COPD INTERVENTIONS: Patients were administered Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) test; their clinical features were recorded from hospital records at the time of admission into the study. All were followed up for 4 years after the initial assessment or until their death.


RESULTS
The nine survivors and seven nonsurvivors were similar in age, pulmonary function test (PFT) results, oxygenation, number of medications, or concomitant illnesses. However, the nonsurvivors had higher MMPI and clinical illness scores compared with the survivors (p < 0.01 and < 0.05, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The 4-year mortality in male veterans with severe COPD is influenced by overall psychological distress and difficulty in coping with their disease, which seem to be important prognostic indicators irrespective of PFT results or oxygenation.
Ashutosh
K
K
Veterans Affairs Hospital, Syracuse, NY, USA.
Haldipur
C
C
Boucher
M L
ML
D000368:Aged; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests