Study of suicide ideation in patients with COPD

[gerald]

Skate found this article and it is quite good.  

The article hides behind some buzzword so I have attempted to simply it.
They analyzed  202 patience suffering from depression and had thought of suicide. The intent was to determine whether COPD was the cause of the depression and suicide thoughts.  They attempted to determine if treatment for mental health would deal with the depression and suicidal thoughts.   They found that it was much more complex that that and that depression did exist inspite of mental health treatment

The study had a couple of issue, the study group was quite small, and for convenience it drew its participants from another study not related.

This study does indicate that there is probably an underlying cause, possible non-mental related, possible as this one mentions philns.proboards.com/thread/15473/depression-linked-acetyl-carnitine-deficiency

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Prevalence and correlates of suicide ideation in patients with COPD: a mixed methods study.

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation (SI) in patients with stable moderate to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).


PATIENTS AND METHODS:

We conducted an exploratory mixed methods analysis of data from participants in a longitudinal observational study of depression in COPD. We measured depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), which includes an item on SI. We compared participants with and without SI in relation to sociodemographics, symptoms, anxiety, and healthcare resource use with independent t-tests and chi-square tests. Content analysis was performed on qualitative data gathered during a structured SI safety assessment.


RESULTS:

Of 202 participants, 121 (60%) had depressive symptoms (PHQ ≥6); 51 (25%) had a PHQ-9 ≥10, indicating a high likelihood of current major depression; and 22 (11%) reported SI. Compared to the 99 depressed participants without SI, those with SI were more likely to be female (59% vs 27%, P=0.004); had worse dyspnea (P=0.009), depression (P<0.001), and anxiety (P=0.003); and were also more likely to have received treatment for depression and/or anxiety (82% vs 40%, P<0.001) and more hospitalizations for COPD exacerbations (P=0.03) but had similar levels of airflow obstruction and functioning than participants without SI. Themes from the qualitative analysis among those with SI included current or prior adverse life situations, untreated or partially treated complex depression, loss of a key relationship, experience of illness and disability, and poor communication with providers.


CONCLUSION:

Our findings suggest that current SI is common in COPD, may occur disproportionately in women, can persist despite mental health treatment, and has complex relationships with both health and life events. Adequate management of SI in COPD may therefore require tailored, comprehensive treatment approaches that integrate medical and mental health objectives


www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25587219

[skate4life]

Gerald, thanks for trying to boiled down this long article.
I especially found it interesting that some people had depressive symptoms on and off throughout their life, even from childhood....

[sharon]

I know having breathing trouble with severe copd is enough to make anyone depressed. I know I dont lead a great life. I am alone too without family and only a very few friends. Anyone living like this is bound to be depressed.