Asthma control or mental lack of control? Are they related?

Background: The association between asthma and mental disorders is known, being anxiety and depression the most common ones. Objective: To determine the proportion of mental disorders (anxiety and/or depression) in our asthmatic patients compared to the non asthmatic population, and to assess the relationship between the severity and control level of asthma and the presence of psychiatric comorbility. Methods: A transversal descriptive study was developed with 317 asthmatic and 306 non asthmatic patients, from 17 to 70 years old in an urban primary care centre. The Goldberg test for screening of anxiety and depression was performed. Other analyzed items were: age, gender, previous anxiety and/or depression, chronic diseases, severity of asthma and level of control. Results: 70.3% of the asthmatic patients were women versus 51.3% on the non asthmatic group, the average age was 42 (SD 16.89) and 47 (SD 14.09) years old respectively. 57.1% had intermittent asthma, 16.7% mild persistent and 26.2% moderate persistent. 62.7% presented controlled asthma, 23.4% partially controlled and 13.9% uncontrolled asthma. The Goldberg test score of the asthmatic group showed anxiety in 51.1% compared to 34.6% on the non asthmatic group (p Conclusions: The asthmatic group showed greater proportion of anxiety and depression compared to the non asthmatic group. Better asthma control was associated with lower anxiety and depression. No other associations were significant.