title: Prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psychiatric disorders, especially anxiety and depression have been reported to have an increased prevalence in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, but there is a paucity of data from India.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Aim of our study is to study the frequency of psychiatric comorbidities in COPD patients and their correlation with severity of COPD, as per global initiative for obstructive lung disease guidelines.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted in outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital (King George's Medical University). A total of 74 COPD patients were included in this study and compared with 74 controls. The diagnosis and severity of COPD were assessed by spirometry. Psychiatric comorbidities were assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequency of psychiatric comorbidities was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in COPD patients (28.4%) as compared to controls (2.7%). As regards to severity, the frequency was significantly increased in severe and very severe COPD. The frequency of psychiatric comorbidities in COPD patients increased significantly with the increase in duration of symptoms being present in 67% of patients with duration of symptoms more than 10 years and only 23% of patients with duration of symptoms ≤5 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of psychiatric comorbidities is increased in COPD patients as compared to controls. We recommend that all patients with COPD should be screened for psychiatric comorbidity, if any.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Shyam Chand
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Satyan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nanda
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Adarsh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tripathi
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Kamal Kumar
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Sawlani
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Kamlesh Kumar
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Himanshu
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ajay Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Verma
keywords: Anxiety; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; psychiatric comorbidities