Asthma: the psychosocial impact among a sample of south western Nigerians

Morbidity and mortality from asthma continues to increase worldwide. Investigations conducted in Western countries have shown that psychiatric morbidity may play a role in increasing mortality due to asthma. However, the association between psychopathology and asthma has not been fully investigated among Nigerian patients. 50 asthmatics seen in the Chest Clinic of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTCH), Ile-Ife, were examined using the 30-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-30). A control group of 48 Nigerians with a similar socio-demographic background were also studied. A significantly higher prevalence of psychiatric disorder (50%) were found in the asthmatic group, while only 27.1% of the control group had psychopathology. Twenty-one (87.5%) of the asthmatics with frequent attacks had psychopathology compared to only four (25%) with less frequent attacks. Psychiatric morbidity did not show any relationship to the level of educational attainment or other socio-demographic variables. This result suggests a high prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among Nigerian asthmatics. The management of asthma should take a wholistic approach: physical, as well as the psychosocial factors should be considered.