The effect of self-management on anxiety and depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Nahid Dehghan Nayeri, Forough Rafii^*, Mona Alinejad Naeeni, Elahe shahriari, Farshad Heidari-Beni

Background: Self-management is a key element in the care of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of self-management program on anxiety and depression in patients with COPD.

Method: This study is a double blinded randomized controlled trial conducted in two of the most central hospitals in Tehran, Iran from January 2020 to July 2021. A total of 100 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were included in this study and randomly allocated in control or intervention groups. Both groups received routine care and education. The researcher educated self-management skills to the intervention group by face to face education. The anxiety and depression were measured at baseline, six months and twelve months after the intervention. The instrument for measuring anxiety and depression was the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).  Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics by SPSS version 18.

Results: At baseline, the mean anxiety and depression scores were not significant different between groups (respectively p=630, p=0.647). Six months later, the mean anxiety and depression scores were more decreased in the intervention group than control group (p=0.009, p=0.004 respectively).

Conclusion: The findings of this study showed a positive effect of the self-management education program on decreasing anxiety and depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Keywords: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Self-management - Anxiety – Depression