In Brief

Asthma may increase risk of anxiety and depression

Children and adolescents with asthma are nearly twice as likely to suffer from anxiety and depressive disorders as their peers without asthma, according to a study published in November 2007. The findings add to a growing body of literature that suggests a relationship between asthma and psychiatric disorders.

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine evaluated telephone interviews with 781 youths ages 11 to 17 who were diagnosed with asthma and receiving care at a health maintenance organization (HMO). Interview data were also obtained from 598 other young people enrolled in the HMO, randomly selected but similar in age to those diagnosed with asthma. The researchers used standard instruments to assess how many of the young people had anxiety or depressive disorders that met criteria published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). They found that 16.3% of the young people with asthma met DSM-IV criteria for one or more anxiety or depressive disorders in the previous 12 months, compared with 8.6% of those without asthma.