Ding Y, Chen TY, Wang SH, Chen XY, Zhang L, Huang-Fu JK, Zhou J, Guan SH. Correlation between positive degree and psychological distress in patients with interstitial lung disease. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(6): 116796 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i6.116796]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Shu-Hong Guan, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First People’s Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 185 Qianqian Street, Changzhou 212003, Jiangsu Province, China. 15651200712@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
research-article
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World J Psychiatry. Jun 19, 2026; 16(6): 116796 Published online Jun 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i6.116796
Correlation between positive degree and psychological distress in patients with interstitial lung disease
Ying Ding, Tian-Yu Chen, Su-Hong Wang, Xi-Yao Chen, Long Zhang, Jun-Kang Huang-Fu, Jun Zhou, Shu-Hong Guan
Ying Ding, Tian-Yu Chen, Xi-Yao Chen, Long Zhang, Jun-Kang Huang-Fu, Jun Zhou, Shu-Hong Guan, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, The First People’s Hospital of Changzhou, Changzhou 212003, Jiangsu Province, China
Su-Hong Wang, Department of Clinical Psychology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, The First People’s Hospital of Changzhou, Changzhou 212003, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Ying Ding and Tian-Yu Chen.
Co-corresponding authors: Jun Zhou and Shu-Hong Guan.
Author contributions: Ding Y and Chen TY contributed equally to this work as co-first authors, they conceived the study design and framework development, and contributed to the statistical analysis and manuscript drafting; Wang SH helped with data collection and scale validation; Chen XY and Zhang L contributed to clinical collaboration, data entry, cleaning and standardization; Huang-Fu JK helped with the preliminary verification; Zhou J and Guan SH contributed equally to this work as co-corresponding authors. they contributed to conceptualization, supervision, and manuscript revision and finalization.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of The First People’s Hospital of Changzhou.
Informed consent statement: All study participants or their legal guardians provided written informed consent before study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The data used in this study can be obtained from the corresponding author upon request.
Corresponding author: Shu-Hong Guan, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First People’s Hospital of Changzhou, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 185 Qianqian Street, Changzhou 212003, Jiangsu Province, China. 15651200712@163.com
Received: December 26, 2025 Revised: January 22, 2026 Accepted: March 2, 2026 Published online: June 19, 2026 Processing time: 153 Days and 0.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Extant studies have explored the independent influencing factors of positivity or psychological distress in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD); however, few studies have hitherto systematically analyzed the correlation between positivity or psychological distress in these patients.
AIM
To explore the correlation between disease management positivity and psychological distress in patients with ILD.
METHODS
Convenience sampling was used to select 370 patients with ILD treated in The First People’s Hospital of Changzhou (The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University) from July 2023 to January 2025. We obtained data via a general information questionnaire, the Patient Activation Measure (PAM), and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Pearson’s correlation analysis was conducted to assess the correlation between positivity and psychological distress. Multiple linear regression analyzed the factors that affected psychological distress. A restricted cubic spline model examined the dose-response relationship between the PAM and K10 scores.
RESULTS
The total PAM and K10 scores were 50.51 ± 5.48 and 32.62 ± 5.60, respectively. Significant differences were observed in the K10 scores among patients based on education level, dyspnea level, and the Perceived Social Support Scale score (P < 0.05). Psychological distress was negatively correlated with cognition, action, belief, skill, and the PAM score (all P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis identified education level, dyspnea, Perceived Social Support Scale score, and PAM score as the main factors that influenced psychological distress (P < 0.05). Restricted cubic spline curve fitting indicated a negative linear relationship between the PAM and K10 scores, adjusted for covariates (P for overall < 0.001, P for non-linear = 0.188).
CONCLUSION
Positivity is negatively correlated with psychological distress in patients with ILD. Clinically, attention should be paid to patients’ psychological state to enhance their positivity.
Core Tip: Interstitial lung disease is a rare type of lung disease. It has physiological symptoms such as progressive dyspnea and also results in great psychological pressure due its long course and difficult treatment. This study aimed to explore the correlation between disease management positivity and psychological distress in 370 patients with interstitial lung disease. The results provide a basis for improving patients’ psychological status.
