Evaluation of functional capacity, mood and cognition among COPD patients

Abstract

COPD patients present increased ventilatory demand during activities. This causes dyspnea and fatigue, which obliges such individuals to avoid these activities. Consequently, functional capacity deficits are generated. In addition to physical limitations, COPD causes impairment of affective, sexual, leisure and professional relationships. Therefore, it becomes necessary to assess the degree of impairment of functional capacity, mood and cognition among COPD patients. In this study, the Basic Activities of Daily Living (BADL) scale, the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were applied. This study was conducted in the outpatient clinic of the Universidade Nove de Julho (Nove de Julho university), and 30 patients were assessed. BADL, IADL, GDS and MEM did not show any correlations with VEF1 in our study. There were no statistically significant correlations with age. Depression was not related to disease severity or age, although it is known that when unrecognized and untreated, it has implications for medical treatment: it may increase the frequency of consultations within the health services and impair functional capacity. It would be of interest to evaluate gasometry, in order to analyze oxygenation and then correlate this with cognitive changes among the patients studied.