The Change in Anxiety and Depression Levels of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic Period: A Follow-Up Study

Objective: The Covid-19 pandemic has led to the postponement of applications to health institutions due to the risk of transmission of the disease in individuals with chronic diseases, and to an increase in the level of anxiety due to its more severe/fatal course when infected. Chronic obstructive pulmonary patients are among the most affected groups. In this study, the change in anxiety/depression status during the pandemic process in chronic obstructive pulmonary patients was investigated. Material and Methods: The study was conducted in chronic obstructive pulmonary patients anxiety/depression scores were measured by applying the "Hospital Anxiety/Depression Scale"(HAD) before pandemia (November2019/March-2020). With the start of the pandemic process in our country in March2020, in order to determine how our patients were affected by the pandemic, the HAD scale was repeated by reaching the same patients by phone in the 18 months of the pandemic (September/2021). The anxiety/depression scores of the patients before and 18 months of the pandemic were compared. The data were analyzed in SPSS 22.0 program. In comparison, X2 and t-tests were used, independent groups.