The relationship between the severity of asthma and comorbidities with anxiety and depressive disorders

There is evidence that asthma is associated with increased frequency of psychiatric symptoms and mental disorders. Our aim was to assess the frequency of anxiety and depressive disorders in a sample of asthmatic outpatients and observe if there is any relationship between this comorbidity and the severity of asthma.

Sixty-two consecutive patients of two outpatient asthma clinics located in university hospitals were evaluated. Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview 4.4 Version.

Twenty-seven patients (43.5%) met criteria for at least one psychiatric diagnosis. The most frequent diagnoses were major depression (24%), generalized anxiety disorder (20.9%) and panic disorder/agoraphobia spectrum disorders (17.7%). We found no significant differences in the prevalence of anxiety disorders and depression between the groups with mild/moderate and severe asthma. Despite the high frequency of depression and anxiety disorders, only 4 (6.5%) patients were under psychiatric treatment and 13 (20.9%) patients were taking benzodiazepines. Twelve of 15 (80%) patients who reported present use of psychotropic medication were not under psychiatric treatment at the moment of the study.

Our results support the high morbidity of anxiety and depressive disorders in asthmatic patients, independent of the severity of asthma.