[Psychological profile of patients with COPD: contribution of Semiometry]

Patients with chronic bronchitis often ignore, or pretend to ignore, their disease and generally consult very late. The physician's advice is often quite vague and centered on smoking. One of the objectives of this study was to better understand the psychological profile of patients with chronic bronchitis in order to better apprehend the patient-physician relationship and therapeutic options. Semiometry was designed to overcome the problem encountered by physicians who would like to understand who their patients are without directly asking them. The concept is based on submitting very ordinary words to these subjects and asking them whether they like the word or not. An analysis of their responses allows a very deep understanding of their psychological profile. Briefly, the patient-physician relationship is quite difficult in COPD. The patient "brings" the disease to the physician, "putting" it in his hands and asking him to cure it without having to do anything concerning himself, his life or his behavior. The physician is called on to answer this challenge that can be expressed as "trying to get the patient to play the game without getting caught".