SELECTED ARTICLES FROM THE RECENT LITERATURE 2003

11/26/03

Mental disorders and asthma

Summary
Questions have been raised whether there is an increased association between asthma and defined mental disorders. Goodwin et al of the Institute of Psychology and Psychotherapy compared the prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma and that of a group of defined psychiatric disorders in a representative sample of the general population in Germany. They found a significantly increased likelihood (OR) of these disorders in individuals with current severe asthma: 1) anxiety disorder (OR=2.65); 2) specific phobias (OR=4.78); 3) panic disorder (OR=2.61). Severe asthma anytime in the life of patients was also significantly associated with the mental disorders described above plus bipolar disorder (OR=5.64). Current or lifetime non-severe asthma were both significantly associated with any anxiety disorder with somewhat lower OR. The authors pointed out that these findings extend those of previous reports.

Reference
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003;60:1125-30

Editor's Comments
These findings, like many such epidemiologic studies of disease diagnosis databases raise the likelihood of significant association but do not show causality patterns. For example, it is not shown whether the mental disorders described above preceded or occurred after the asthma was present. It may well be that the respiratory distress associated with severe asthma could lead to anxiety disorders and other mental disturbances.

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