The Relationship between the Status of Disability and the Level of Depression among the Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Aim: The study was performed to explore therelationship between the status of disability and thelevel of depression among the patients with ChronicObstructive Pulmonary Disease. Method: The sample of the study consisted of 100patients. The data were collected using aquestionnaire on socio-demographic factors anddisease symptoms, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)and Brief Disability Questionnaire (BDQ). KruskallWallis Analysis of Variance, t-test, Mann Whitney-Utest, Pearson's Correlation and Cronbach's alphainternal consistency test were used to analyse data. Findings: When the BDI scores of the patients wereexamined, it was seen that 19% of the patientsexperienced minimal level of depression; 40% hadmild, 33% had moderate and 8% had severedepression. The distribution of the BDQ scale scoresshowed that 10.0% of the patients had no disabilitywhereas the severity of the disability among thepatients was mild, moderate and severe in 5.0%,23.0% and 62.0%, respectively. Higher levels ofdisability were found in male patients. The disabilityand depression scores of the patients who statedthat COPD didn't affect their mental health werehigher compared to those of others expressing thatCOPD had an effect on their mental health.Conclusion: It was found that there was anextremely significant positive correlation betweenthe level of depression and disability in the patientswith COPD and as the level of depression increasedso did the disability. Therefore, the nurses providinghealthcare for patients with COPD should notignore their psychological problems and shouldassess the patients' mental states routinely.