[Fear of progression and end-of-life fear in COPD patients].

Anxiety and depression are prevalent comorbid conditions in COPD. Furthermore, diseases related anxieties (fear of progression, end-of-life fear) occur very often. Anxiety can have a negative impact on patients' quality of life and is sometimes even considered as a risk factor for re-hospitalisation. There are only a few studies that focus on disease related anxieties in COPD. The aim of our study was to investigate the associations between disease related anxieties (fear of progression, end-of-life fear), psychological health status and quality of life in COPD patients. 132 patients with COPD (GOLD II-IV) participated in the study. Results of a MANOVA showed no differences between diseases related anxieties among patients with different disease severity (GOLD II-IV). Furthermore, the results showed significant associations between end-of-life fear, fear of progression, depression and quality of life. Further analyses showed that there is a need for managing end-of-life fears and improving end-of-life care. Overall, our study showed, that health disease related anxieties play an important role in COPD and still do not receive enough attention.