The Prevalence and Impact of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Patients With Non-CF Bronchiectasis

Overview

Patients with chronic diseases are at great risk of depression and anxiety.It is known that depression and anxiety are one of the most common comorbidities associated with chronic lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However,to date,little is known about the rates and risk factors of depression and anxiety symptoms in non-CF bronchiectasis;and no large-scale prospective studies have been performed to investigate the effect of depression and anxiety on the healthy outcomes(such as number of exacerbations and hospitalizations over the ensuing year).Our purpose is to fill these gaps.

Non-CF bronchiectasis is a long-term condition which affects the lungs.It is characterized by chronic airway infection with periodic exacerbations which are associated with impaired lung function, reduced quality of life and increased healthcare costs.Depression and anxiety are common and are known to be associated with poor quality of life and exacerbations of other chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD.Studies in COPD have shown that psychological distress is increasingly elevated and common,with up to 55% of patients suffering from a clinical diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression;moreover,patients with anxiety and/or depression were at greater risk for COPD-related exacerbations.Unfortunately,there has been no systematic evaluation of symptoms of depression and anxiety in patients with non-CF bronchiectasis or their relationship to health outcomes.A study including 111 non-CF bronchiectasis patients,O'Leary and colleagues indentified that 34% of patients had elevated scores for anxiety, depression or both.In a recent study of 93 patients(including 43 with Cystic fibrosis)of bronchiectasis,20% patients had elevated depression-related scores and 38 % had elevated anxiety-related scores,both depression and anxiety symptoms predicted significantly worse health-related quality of life. To date,the studies of depression and anxiety symptoms in patients with non-CF bronchiectasis have been limited by small samples sizes;and no prospective studies have been conducted to investigate the impact of psychological distress on the health outcomes.Given the importance of identifying and treating these symptoms, and their implications for long-term health outcomes,we plan to determine the prevalence and risk factors of depression and anxiety in non-CF bronchiectasis.In addition,we investigate the effect of depression and anxiety on the risk of non-CF bronchiectasis exacerbations and hospitalizations.