Mislabeling of symptoms was studied in a group of 587 chronic asthmatic patients. Results indicated a wide variation in both the frequency and type of mislabeling, with over 26 per cent of the patients mislabeling one or more nonairways obstruction symptom clusters as being an asthma attack. Several demographic and personality factors were found to correlate with mislabeling. Finally, mislabeling was associated with medical outcome, with mislabelers being 40 per cent more likely than nonmislabelers to be rehospitalized for their asthma within six months of discharge.

An earlier report of a Bayesian model to predict psychomaintenance-determined rehospitalization among chronic asthmatic patients was replicated and refined. The present findings further demonstrate the existence and effect of psychomaintenance, the efficacy of psychometrically based prediction of psychomaintenance, and suggest one possible way of understanding reports of the effectiveness of psychologic treatment among medically ill patients.

Bronchial asthma is an illness particularly susceptible to psychological and behavioral exacerbation and perpetuation. The Battery of Asthma Illness Behavior has demonstrated a remarkable ability to identify such psychomaintenance potentials in chronic asthmatic patients. The present study advances previous research by showing that BAIB scores are independent of degree of airways hyperreactivity. This finding strengthens the assertion that the BAIB assesses psychomaintenance potentials independent from the objective medical parameters of the illness.