Steroid prescribing for asthmatics: relationship with Asthma Symptom Checklist and Living with Asthma Questionnaire

Psychosocial consequences of asthma were assessed for 42 patients attending an out-patient clinic using the Asthma Symptom Checklist (ASC), a five-dimensional scale of experience during asthma attacks, and the Living with Asthma Questionnaire (LWAQ), a unidimensional scale of experience between attacks. Although all subscales of the ASC and the LWAQ correlated with the physician's prescription of steroids, multiple regression showed that 32 per cent of the prescription decision variance was accounted for by two dimensions of the ASC, panic-fear and irritability. The LWAQ did not explain additional prescription variance, indicating that the physician's decisions were influenced by psychological reactions during asthma attacks rather than between attacks. Prescription decisions were not influenced by clinic-measured respiratory function. The results show some differences with previous studies; implications for patient management are discussed.