Risk behaviours and non-atopic comorbidities of adolescents with asthma

Risk behaviours, obesity, and neuropsychiatric comorbidity have been demonstrated in various chronic diseases but are less well described among adolescents with asthma.

We clinically assessed asthma status at the 18-year follow-up visit of the Danish Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC₂₀₀₀) birth cohort born to mothers with asthma, and we investigated risk behaviours and non-atopic comorbidities. We included obesity and neuropsychiatric diseases captured from medical records and electronic questionnaires on behavioural traits and psychopathology. Associations between asthma status, risk behaviours, and non-atopic comorbidity were analysed using logistic regression models.

A total of 370 individuals (90%) completed the 18-year visit, and 93 of these (25.1%) had current asthma. Comparing adolescents with and without asthma, binge drinking was reported in 75.2% vs 66.0%, current smoking in 26.9% vs 32.9%, and drug use in 16.1% vs 26.0%. High daily screen use was reported in 25.8% vs 16.6%; 26.9% vs 17.3% reported self-destructive behaviour; 24.7% vs 14.1% had neuropsychiatric comorbidity, and 10.8% vs 6.9% had obesity. In univariate analyses, asthma was associated with self-destructive behaviour, OR = 1.84 (1.03-3.21), p = 0.035, and neuropsychiatric comorbidity, OR = 2.01 (1.11-3.56), p = 0.019. In multivariable analysis with backward selection, asthma was associated with neuropsychiatric comorbidity, OR = 2.04 (1.004-4.12), p = 0.049, a trend of increased self-destructive behaviour, OR = 1.76 (0.93-3.29), p = 0.079, and less drug use, OR = 0.59 (0.29-0.96), p = 0.045.

Asthma was associated with neuropsychiatric comorbidity and self-destructive behaviour, but less drug use. There were no consistent associations with other risk behaviours or obesity.