Impact of depression on patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Background: The impact of depression on disease severity and quality of life in patients with IPF has not been thoroughly evaluated on prospective studies. Patients and Methods: Between February and September 2016, we prospectively enrolled 72 patients (57 male, mean age (years) +SD: 70.4+8.1) with mild-to-moderate IPF (mean GAP score+SD: 4.7+1.8) without previous diagnosis of depression. Depressive symptoms were evaluated with BDI-2. Disease severity was evaluated with pulmonary function (FVC, DLCO) and exercise capacity (6-MWT) measures. Symptom burden and quality of life were assessed by mMRC, SOBQ and SGRQ, K-BILD questionnaires, respectively. Results: Data for analysis was available from 69 patients (96%). Twenty seven patients (39%) had significant depressive symptoms scoring≥15. None of the patients was taking antidepressant medication. A strong association between depressive symptoms and measures of: 1) disease severity: a) GAP score (r=0.3, p=0.01), b) DLCO: r=-0.3, p=0.01, c) 6MWT: r=-0.51, p Conclusions: Depression exerts a significant impact on disease severity, symptom burden and quality of life in patients with IPF. Further prospective studies should investigate the role of antidepressant drug therapy in patients with IPF and comorbid depression.