Psychosomatic symptoms in asthmatic children and adolescents

In order to identify different patterns of association between physical and psychical symptoms in childhood asthma 102 children have been investigated. Somatic investigations included clinical examination, whole-body plethysmography, total IgE and RAST of specific allergens such as pollens, mites and animals. Psychosocial assessment comprised a semi-structured interview and questionnaires (Achenbach, CBCL and Olson, FACES II). There were typical psychosocial patterns in function of aetiopathogenetic groups. The infection-induced asthma was accompanied by high anxiety and here the most school problems were found. Children with seasonal asthma were psychologically healthy whereas those with perennial asthma showed important psycho-vegetative difficulties secondary to chronic somatic disease. Atypical asthma was found to be most often associated with real psychiatric symptoms. We concluded that psychosocial findings are heterogeneous and should be interpreted in relation to somatic manifestations.