Higher levels of perceived stress—or how overwhelmed or stressed a person feels based on their personal understanding of their condition—can have physiological impacts on a COPD patient’s disease symptoms.


RT’s Three Key Takeaways:

  1. Perceived Stress Worsens COPD Symptoms: Higher levels of perceived stress are linked to more severe respiratory symptoms and lower quality of life in people with COPD.
  2. Biological Mechanisms Affected: Stress may contribute to COPD progression by increasing platelet activation, oxidative stress, and systemic inflammation.
  3. Need for Psychosocial Focus: Researchers emphasize the importance of addressing stress and related psychosocial factors to improve COPD outcomes, especially in vulnerable populations.


Increased perceived stress may cause worsened respiratory symptoms and decreased quality of life in people with COPD, according to a new study published in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation.

Perceived stress is used to describe how overwhelmed or stressed a person feels based on their personal understanding of the situation. It is a psychosocial factor, along with loneliness, social isolation and emotional support, which have been shown to impact health outcomes in people with chronic diseases.

COPD is an inflammatory lung disease, comprising several conditions, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and can be caused by genetics and irritants like smoke or pollution. The disease affects more than 30 million Americans and is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide.

This new study evaluated data from the Comparing Urban and Rural Effects of Poverty on COPD (CURE COPD) study, which examined how obesity, poor diet and indoor air quality impact former smokers with COPD living in low-income, urban areas. The authors examined the association between perceived stress on respiratory health and on platelet activation, oxidative stress and systemic inflammation—biological processes which may contribute to COPD.

“There is increased evidence that psychosocial factors, including perceived stress, are associated with worsened respiratory symptoms for people with COPD. Platelet activation, which may contribute to inflammation, and oxidative stress, which may lead to cell and tissue damage, are also impacted by increased perceived stress,” said Obiageli Lynda Offor, M.D., MPH, a Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellow at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, and lead author of the study. “While our study examined a small group of patients, our results demonstrate the need for further research on how perceived stress impacts respiratory health and the importance of addressing psychosocial factors to help improve people’s quality of life.”