Psychological distress and depressed mood in employees with asthma, chronic bronchitis or emphysema: a population-based observational study on prevalence and the relationship with smoking cigarettes.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate if employees with asthma, chronic bronchitis or emphysema can be characterized as a population of patients with a high prevalence of psychological distress and/or depressed mood. Above all, we wanted to examine the influence of smoking status on the relationship between chronic disease and psychological distress/depressed mood.


METHODS
A postal survey was conducted among 12,103 employees participating in the Maastricht Cohort Study.


RESULTS
Smoking employees, who reported having asthma, chronic bronchitis or emphysema were more likely to report suffering from depressed mood compared to smokers with no long-lasting disease (prevalence rate, PR: 29.3 and 9.0%, respectively; OR for depressed mood = 4.04; 95% CI: 2.56-6.39) and when compared to smoking employees with a history of heart disease, hypertension or myocardial infarction (PR: 18.1%; OR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1.07-3.68), or rheumatoid arthritis (PR: 20.1%; OR: 1.73; 95% CI: 0.96-3.11).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings provide health care professionals with additional evidence regarding the importance for including the assessment of psychological distress and depressed mood in the routine evaluation of the patient with asthma, chronic bronchitis or emphysema, especially with regard to smoking cessation.
Wagena
Edwin J
EJ
Department of General Practice, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, The Netherlands. edwin.wagena@hag.unimaas.nl
Kant
Ijmert
I
Huibers
Marcus J H
MJ
van Amelsvoort
Ludovic G P M
LG
Swaen
Gerard M H
GM
Wouters
Emiel F M
EF
van Schayck
Constant P
CP
D017677:Age Distribution; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D029481:Bronchitis, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016272:Occupational Health; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires