The relationship between the severity of asthma and comorbidities with anxiety and depressive disorders.

Objective: There is evidence that asthma is associated with increased frequency of psychiatric symptoms and mental disorders. Our aim was to assess the frequency of anxiety and depressive disorders in a sample of asthmatic outpatients and observe if there is any relationship between this comorbidity and the severity of asthma.

Method: Sixty-two consecutive patients of two outpatient asthma clinics located in university hospitals were evaluated. Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview 4.4 Version.

Results: Twenty-seven patients (43.5%) met criteria for at least one psychiatric diagnosis. The most frequent diagnoses were major depression (24%), generalized anxiety disorder (20.9%) and panic disorder/agoraphobia spectrum disorders (17.7%). We found no significant differences in the prevalence of anxiety disorders and depression between the groups with mild/moderate and severe asthma. Despite the high frequency of depression and anxiety disorders, only 4 (6.5%) patients were under psychiatric treatment and 13 (20.9%) patients were taking benzodiazepines. Twelve of 15 (80%) patients who reported present use of psychotropic medication were not under psychiatric treatment at the moment of the study.

Conclusions: Our results support the high morbidity of anxiety and depressive disorders in asthmatic patients, independent of the severity of asthma.