Anxiety Sensitivity and Depression in Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and Asthma

Abstract

• Explain why asthmatic patients were used as a patient control group in this study of the role of psychiatric abnormality in patients with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS).• Recall the difference among MCS patients, asthmatics, and normal control subjects in psychiatric history, current psychiatric illness. and neuropsychological function.• Comment on the therapeutic implications of the present findings for MCS patients. AbstractPatients with sensitivities to multiple chemicals report symptoms of cognitive dysfunction, respiratory distress, and mood disturbance. Lifetime Med. 2002;44:890 -901)

Alexithymia and asthma: a systematic review

“…All 26 studies presented participants suffering from asthma, leading to a total of 4,282 subjects. Fifteen studies included adults ( Feldman et al, 2002 ; Smyth et al, 2002 ; Vliet et al, 2002 ; Chugg et al, 2009 ; Vázquez et al, 2010a ; Vazquez et al, 2010b ; Baiardini et al, 2011 ; Barbosa et al, 2011 ; Martínez-Rivera et al, 2011 ; Innamorati et al, 2015 ; Khosravani et al, 2016 , 2020 ; Vanegas et al, 2020 ; Dafauce et al, 2021 ; Liotta et al, 2021 ) and eight also included adolescents ( Kleiger and Dirks, 1980 ; Kleiger and Jones, 1980 ; Dirks et al, 1981 ; Feiguine et al, 1982 ; Nielsen et al, 1997 ; Serrano et al, 2006 ; Amore et al, 2013 ; Ghorbani et al, 2017 ). Finally, three studies ( Brown et al, 1981 ; Plaza et al, 2006 ; Moes-Wójtowicz et al, 2012 ) did not provide clear data on the age range of participants.…”

“…Asthma severity and intensity differed within the selected study. Specifically, eight studies ( Brown et al, 1981 ; Feiguine et al, 1982 ; Nielsen et al, 1997 ; Feldman et al, 2002 ; Smyth et al, 2002 ; Vliet et al, 2002 ; Barbosa et al, 2011 ; Moes-Wójtowicz et al, 2012 ) selected subjects with asthma of varying degrees and did not report data on disease severity. Four studies ( Khosravani et al, 2016 ; Ghorbani et al, 2017 ; Khosravani et al, 2020 ; Vanegas et al, 2020 ) analyzed patients affected by chronic asthma, with severity ranging from mild to severe.…”

“…All studies used a standardized instrument to assess alexithymia. TAS-20 was used in more than half of the studies ( Smyth et al, 2002 ; Chugg et al, 2009 ; Vázquez et al, 2010a ; Vazquez et al, 2010b ; Baiardini et al, 2011 ; Barbosa et al, 2011 ; Martínez-Rivera et al, 2011 ; Amore et al, 2013 ; Innamorati et al, 2015 ; Khosravani et al, 2016 , 2020 ; Ghorbani et al, 2017 ; Vanegas et al, 2020 ; Dafauce et al, 2021 ; Liotta et al, 2021 ), followed by the previous 26-item version of the instrument ( Nielsen et al, 1997 ; Feldman et al, 2002 ; Vliet et al, 2002 ; Plaza et al, 2006 ; Serrano et al, 2006 ; Moes-Wójtowicz et al, 2012 ). Four studies ( Kleiger and Dirks, 1980 ; Brown et al, 1981 ; Dirks et al, 1981 ; Feiguine et al, 1982 ) measured alexithymia as a personality trait through the MMPI subscale.…”

“…Two studies compared patients with asthma with other chronic diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus ( Barbosa et al, 2011 ) and rheumatoid arthritis ( Smyth et al, 2002 ). Vliet et al (2002) examined differences among subjects with multiple chemical sensitivities, asthma, and healthy controls. Regarding studies analyzing subjects with asthma and episodes of NFA, Serrano et al (2006) and Vázquez et al (2010a) included asthmatic subjects who presented no near-fatal exacerbations of disease as control groups, while Plaza et al (2006) also included a third group of healthy subjects.…”

“…Seven studies ( Kleiger and Dirks, 1980 ; Brown et al, 1981 ; Feiguine et al, 1982 ; Nielsen et al, 1997 ; Feldman et al, 2002 ; Vazquez et al, 2010b ; Liotta et al, 2021 ) reported the presence of alexithymia among asthmatic patients, without providing prevalence estimates or comparisons on mean alexithymia scores among patients with asthma or other controls. Three studies ( Vliet et al, 2002 ; Martínez-Rivera et al, 2011 ; Ghorbani et al, 2017 ) compared the mean alexithymia scores of subjects with control groups with or without asthma.…”