Mindfulness and asthma symptoms: A study among college students

Given the known link between asthma and stress as well as the link between mindfulness and stress, we explore the possible association between trait mindfulness and asthma-related diagnosis and symptoms with a cross-sectional study.

In 2014, we surveyed a sample of college students in their freshman year, from a public university in Shanghai, China. We used three multilevel logistic regressions to estimate the association between trait mindfulness (measured by Mindful Awareness Attention Scale, MAAS) and self-report of ever having an asthma diagnosis, ever having had persistent dry cough, and ever having had wheezing symptoms. Age, gender, household registration status, and the frequency of smog in the respondent's hometown were used as control variables in the study. The home province of the student was used as the cluster variable in the multilevel models.

Among the 1392 students in the analysis sample (mean age = 18.3), 47 (3.4%) self-reported an asthma diagnosis, 251 (18.1%) reported having had persistent dry cough, and 100 (7.2%) reported having had wheezing symptoms. A one-unit increase in MAAS is negatively associated with having a self-reported asthma diagnosis (Odds Ratio (OR): 0.662, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.452, 0.969, p = 0.034), having had persistent dry cough (OR: 0.658, 95% CI: 0.545, 0.795, p < 0.001), and wheezing (OR = 0.747, 95% CI: 0.569, 0.981, p = 0.036).

This is the first study to suggest a link between trait mindfulness and asthma. Our finding provides evidence that people with higher level of mindfulness are less likely to have had an asthma diagnosis and less likely to have the symptoms of persistent dry cough and wheezing.