摘要：Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have many times under-recognized and untreated depression and anxiety symptoms which lead to harmful effects on physical functioning and social interaction. Depression and anxiety are often difficult to identify in patients of COPD. The causes for these associated diseases in COPD are multifactorial including social, behavioural and biological factors. Less than 35% of COPD patients with these co-morbid diseases are receiving appropriate treatment. The factor for this low treatment rate includes patients perceived barrier e.g. reluctance to receive antidepressant drug therapy, poor treatment compliance and deficiency of standardized diagnostic approach. There are inconclusive evidence to support the efficacy of anti-depressant drug therapy in patients of COPD with comorbid depression and anxiety. Promising results are being noticed in pulmonary rehabilitation, psychological therapy and the collaborative care model in reducing depression and anxiety symptoms in patients with COPD. But, the main limitations are short term follow up period. More research is required to establish the efficacy of these interventions in randomized control trial with larger samples and longer follow up periods.
