Sex differences in risk factors for depressive symptoms in patients with COPD: The 2014 and 2016 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Abstract Background Although depression is a common comorbidity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the role of sex remains unexplored. We evaluated sex differences of risk factors of depressive symptoms in adults with COPD. Methods This was a population-based cross-sectional study using data from the 2014 and 2016 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Spirometry was used to identify patients with COPD, defined as a FEV1/FVC ratio