General practitioners views and experiences in managing depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Up to 40% of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) suffer from comorbid depression. However, there is little data available on the perceptions and experiences of general practitioners (GPs) on the management of depression in patients with COPD. The study investigated GPs’ views about recognizing and treating depression in patients with COPD. A postal survey of 3957 GPs in England about their views on recognizing and treating depression in patients with COPD was conducted. Participants were drawn from the General Medical Services statistics database maintained by the Department of Health. A total of 3957 GPs were mailed. Of these, 857 (22%) complete responses were received. Seventy two percent of the GPs reported screening for depression regularly in patients with COPD. Over 95% of the GPs’ views were that depression interferes with the self-management of COPD and 584 (67%) thought that it exacerbates the symptoms of COPD. However, over two-fifths of GPs were concerned that convincing COPD patients with comorbid depression to receive appropriate treatment was a challenge. Barriers for treatment of comorbid depression in patients with COPD include lack of adequate provision of psychological services and long waiting times for psychological treatment. It is encouraging that most GPs were vigilant and proactively screening for depression. However, there is limited immediate access and provision to psychological therapies to refer COPD patients for treatment in the primary care setting. Further study is required.

Keywords::

• barriers
• cognitive behavioral therapy
• COPD
• depression
• general practitioners
• long waiting time
• primary care
• psychological services

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Bonnie Sibbald and Mark Hann from the University of Manchester for their help in the design of this project.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.