Identifying Patients with COPD in Need for Psychosocial Care Through Screening with the HSCL-25 and the CCQ Mental State

Psychosocial needs of patients and spouses justify a position of psychosocial health professionals in the multidisciplinary care for Parkinson's disease

Introduction

Living a life with Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a challenge for both patients and spouses. Patients have to cope with an increasing limitation in all domains of their daily life and spouses need to adjust to these changes. The focus of this study is on exploring, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the psychosocial needs of both patients with PD and spouses.

Methods

An online survey with 11 themes, related to dealing with a chronic disease, was sent by an email to patients and spouses and two focus groups were planned, one with patients and one with spouses. Data from the survey were quantitatively analysed and audiotapes from the focus groups were transcribed verbatim and combined with notes.

Results

Percentages of relevance are higher than 50% for all the themes, whereas those of the need for and received support are all lower than 50%. Focus groups revealed a negative image of psychosocial therapy and associations with failure, but also difficulties in signalling problems by professionals, little attention for spouses and limited access to specialized psychosocial care.

Conclusion

Based on this exploration, there appears to be a threshold to ask for psychosocial support on the one hand and to find the right professional on the other hand. A permanent position for psychosocial health professionals in the multidisciplinary Parkinson teams and networks may close the gap between ‘supply and demand’.

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Living a life with Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a challenge for both patients and spouses

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Psychosocial therapy has a negative image leading to a high threshold to ask for support.

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The access to psychosocial professionals with expertise in PD is limited

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Psychosocial professions should have a permanent position in the multidisciplinary teams and networks to normalize their image and close the gap between needs and support.

Assessing hostility in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

COPD is a disease that can adversely affect patients' psychology. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether COPD patients feel increased hostility, and if hostility is associated with socio-economic factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 203 COPD patients in primary health care services in Greece, using the hostility and direction of hostility questionnaire HDHQ. Patient demographics, smoking habits, body mass index (BMI) and disease grade were also recorded. The results showed significant differences between males and females, with women exhibiting higher hostility (p = 0.004). Age correlates negatively with hostility, with younger patients showing higher values. Patients who continue to smoke (p = 0.005), and those in a very poor financial situation, have a much higher level of hostility. Regarding family status, married patients show the least hostility. In patients with very severe COPD and those with low education (p = 0.035) there is a high level of self-criticism. In conclusion, patients with COPD, still smokers, single, low-income and low-educated, especially female patients, have a higher risk of developing hostility. These findings suggest a need for further research in order to clarify the complexity of the different risk factors.