Introduction: Anxiety in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is prevalent but often unidentified and therefore not adequately managed. Clinicians find it difficult to detect anxiety symptoms and to differentiate subclinical anxiety from anxiety disorders, due to the considerable overlap between symptoms of COPD and anxiety.

Aim: To synthesize existing qualitative research on patients? experiences of COPD-related anxiety with the purpose of gaining a richer understanding of the construct.

Methods: Searches for qualitative studies of patients? experiences of COPD-related anxiety were conducted in PubMed (MEDLINE), CINAHL (EBSCO), and PsycInfo (APA). English-language studies including patients diagnosed with COPD were reviewed and data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: A total of 36 studies were included in the review. Four themes related to COPD-related anxiety were identified. Based on the identified themes, a conceptual model of COPD-related anxiety from the patient perspective was developed (Figure 1).

Conclusion: A conceptual model of COPD-related anxiety from the patient perspective is now available, with the potential to inform future attempts at improving identification and management of COPD-related anxiety. Future research should focus on the development of a COPD-specific anxiety questionnaire containing domains that are relevant from the patient perspective.