ORIGINAL ARTICLE DOI: 10.3904/kjim.2010.25.1.51 Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety in Outpatients with Chronic Airway Lung Disease Yon Ju Ryu, Eun-Mi Chun, Jin Hwa Lee, and Jung Hyun Chang Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Ewha Medical Research Institute, Ewha Medical Center, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Background/Aims: Patients with chronic airway lung diseases often experience depression and anxiety, but little information is available regarding Koreans with these conditions. We thus assessed depression and anxiety in Korean patients with chronic airway lung diseases. Methods: The degree of depression and anxiety in 84 outpatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 37 with asthma, 33 with bronchiectasis, and 73 healthy controls were evaluated by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Results: The patients with COPD and bronchiectasis had higher BDI scores and were more likely than controls to experience depression ([COPD, 17; range, 0 to 42; prevalence, 55%], [bronchiectasis, 16; range, 3 to 51; prevalence, 55%], [controls, 13; range, 0 to 31; prevalence, 30%], p < 0.05). The state-anxiety scores of the patients were higher than those of the controls, but only the bronchiectasis group demonstrated a higher frequency of state-anxiety compared with the controls (39 vs. 16%, patients vs. controls, p = 0.015). Among all patients, 22% presented with concomitant depression and state-anxiety, and 25% demonstrated depression and trait-anxiety. Depression was positively correlated with both state-anxiety (r = 0.644) and trait-anxiety (r = 0.597, p < 0.0001). Irrespective of individual diagnosis, post-bronchodilator FEV1 (odds ratio [OR], 0.972; p = 0.027) and smoking history (OR, 3.894; p = 0.018) were independent risk factors for depression in patients with chronic airway lung diseases. Conclusions: Chronic airway lung diseases are associated with depression and/or anxiety, particularly in those with a higher airflow limitation and/or history of smoking. (Korean J Intern Med 2010;25:51-57) Keywords: Depression; Anxiety; Pulmonary disease, chronic obstructive; Asthma; Bronchiectasis INTRODUCTION Chronic respiratory conditions are being recognized with increasing frequency in both Korea and worldwide [1-3] and are associated with an increased risk for mood and anxiety disorders [4-7]. Activities of daily living may be severely impaired in patients with chronic airway lung diseases owing to chronic psychological stress and somatic pain, frequent admission to the hospital, and dependence on medical and nursing personnel. Depression and anxiety Received: February 24, 2009 Accepted: June 3, 2009 cause deterioration in social functioning and quality of life and are correlated with levels of subjective dyspnea and disease progression [8-11]. Thus, detecting depression or anxiety in patients with chronic airway lung diseases is of great importance. Although the close correlation between anxiety and depression is well known, few studies have examined their simultaneous occurrence in patients with chronic respiratory conditions. Moreover, studies assessing and comparing anxiety and depression levels among patients with different chronic airway lung diseases such Correspondence to Yon Ju Ryu, M.D. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Ewha Medical Research Institute, Ewha Medical Center, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Mokdong Hospital, Mok 6-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul 158-710, Korea Tel: 82-2-2650-2840, Fax: 82-2-2650-2559, E-mail: medyon@ewha.ac.kr