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Psychological factors impact health related quality of life for patients with COPD

Psychological factors — such as illness perception, attribution and internal locus of control — may impact health-related quality of life for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to recent research published in Psychology & Health.

“These factors should be considered when designing treatments for individuals with [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] COPD, and adequate interventions should be provided to enhance illness understanding and self-management skills,” Ricarda Mewes, PhD, from the division of clinical psychology and psychotherapy and department of psychology at Philipps-University of Marburg in Marburg, Germany, and colleagues wrote.

Mewes and colleagues administered an online survey to 502 individuals with COPD. The mean age of the participants  was 59.7 years at the time of the study, and most participants had severe COPD as rated by GOLD Staging (Stage I = 3%; Stage II = 17%; Stage III = 34%; Stage IV = 46%). As part of the survey, the participants completed the SF-12, Patient Health Questionnaire, COPD Assessment Test and Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, which “assesses causal illness attributions, and the internal illness-related locus of control scale of the ‘KKG questionnaire for the assessment of control beliefs about illness and health,’” according to the abstract.

The researchers found there were high variances in the questionnaire results, with mental health-related quality of life (HRQL) comprising 63%, disability comprising 56% and physical HRQL comprising 28% of variances. Mewes and colleagues noted that lower disability and better HRQL was associated with factors such as better mental health, attribution to psychological causes, more optimistic perceptions about one’s illness and stronger internal locus of control.– by Jeff Craven

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