Short summary

The project will enhance our understanding of COPD-related anxiety. The tangible outcome will be a practical questionnaire that can be seamlessly integrated into general practice and municipal rehabilitation settings. This tool will enable early detection of COPD-related anxiety, providing a proactive approach to managing anxiety-related reactions to the disease.

Rationale

Currently, there is a critical gap in addressing anxiety among patients with COPD. Existing measurement tools lack the sensitivity needed to identify anxiety accurately in COPD patients. This neglect leads to misleading prevalence rates, underdiagnosis, and consequently, undertreatment of anxiety and related disorders in COPD patients. Complicating matters is the overlap of symptoms between anxiety and COPD, creating a complex relationship that has not been adequately explored. Despite the growing need for understanding from various stakeholders, there is yet to be a definition or tool specifically tailored to COPD-related anxiety. Our project aims to bridge this gap by developing a concrete definition of COPD-related anxiety and creating a tailored questionnaire to identify cases accurately. We are taking a patient-centered approach, involving COPD patients in the development process through interviews. Their insights will guide the questionnaire's structure, ensuring it covers relevant domains, uses understandable language, and is easily recognizable.

Description of the cohort

We will include patients with COPD, their informal caregivers and healthcare professionals.

Data and biological material

We will conduct both qualitative and quantitative data in this project, e.g. interview-based data and questionnaire data.

Collaborating researchers and departments

Department of Medicine, Vejle Hospital

• Anders Løkke
• Ingeborg Farver-Vestergaard
• Ole Hilberg

Department of Respiratory Diseases and Allergy, Aarhus University Hospital

• Thomas Skovhus Prior

Publications associated with the project

Christiansen CF, Løkke A, Bregnballe V, Prior TS, Farver-Vestergaard I. COPD-Related Anxiety: A Systematic Review of Patient Perspectives. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2023;18:1031-1046