Neurological and Psychiatric Comorbidities in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

Background and Purpose Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often accompanied by different neurological and psychiatric comorbidities. The purpose of this study was to examine which of them are the most frequent and to explore whether their manifestation can be explained by underlying latent variables. Methods Data about patients with COPD and their neurological and psychiatric comorbidities were extracted from an electronic database of the National Health Insurance Fund of Lithuania for the period between January 1, 2012, and June 30, 2014. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to investigate comorbidity patterns. Results A study sample of 4834 patients with COPD was obtained from the database, 3338 (69.1%) of who were male. The most frequent neurological and psychiatric comorbidities were nerve, nerve root and plexus disorders (n=1439, 29.8%), sleep disorders (n=666, 13.8%), transient ischemic attack (n=545, 11.3%), depression (n=364, 7.5%) and ischemic stroke (n=349, 7.2%). The prevalence of ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and sleep disorders increased with age. One latent variable outlined during EFA grouped neurological disorders, namely ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, epilepsy, dementia and Parkinson’s disease. The second encompassed depression, anxiety, somatoform and sleep disorders. While similar patterns emerged in data from male patients, no clear comorbidity profiles among women with COPD were obtained. Conclusion Our study provides novel insights into the neurological and psychiatric comorbidities in COPD by outlining an association among cerebrovascular, neurodegenerative disorders and epilepsy, and psychiatric and sleep disorders. Future studies could substantiate the discrete pathological mechanism that underlie these comorbidity groups.

Epidemiology of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Comorbidities in Lithuanian National Database: A Cluster Analysis

“…Epidemiological studies have identified a strong association between COPD and comorbid psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression, with the prevalence of depression ranging from 16% to 88.4%. In addition, individuals with COPD have a higher prevalence of ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, sleep disorders, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease, increasing with age [ 22 , 52 , 53 , 54 ]. There was no statistically significant difference in the diseased Lithuanian population in the prevalence of depression, but COPD patients were more likely to develop depression.…”

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Evidence-Based Psychosocial Interventions

“…The unmet needs of COPD patients can hinder their effective disease management (Clari et al 2018, Chen et al 2019, Puteikis et al 2021. During the coping process with the nature of the disease, negative emotions such as feelings of loss, anger, fear of death, anxiety, depression, and hopelessness are commonly experienced (Clari et al 2018, Rehman et al 2021, Puteikis et al 2021.…”

Impact of the Psychiatric Comorbidities in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

“…Mental health and addiction concerns affect a large number of people around the world and are associated with various comorbidities including infections associated with healthcare or community source infection (Baroiu et al, 2019;Pumar et al, 2014;Puteikis et al, 2021).…”