Asthma and Wheezing Are Associated with Depression and Anxiety in Adults: An Analysis from 54 Countries

Abstract

Background. Asthma and depression are important public-health concerns worldwide. While some epidemiologic studies have shown asthma and wheezing to be associated with depression and anxiety, the patterns are unclear at the multinational level due to the lack of cross-study comparability. Our study examined the associations of self-reported asthma diagnosis and current wheezing with self-reported depression diagnosis and 30-day anxiety using an international survey. Methods. Using the 2002 World Health Survey, a standardized international survey conducted by the WHO, we estimated the associations between diagnosed asthma and current wheezing with diagnosed depression and 30-day anxiety via multiple logistic regressions for 54 countries worldwide. Results. Diagnosed depression and 30-day anxiety were associated with diagnosed asthma in 65% and 40% of the countries, respectively. Diagnosed depression and 30-day anxiety were associated with current wheezing in 83% and 82% of the countries, respectively. Conclusions. The association between asthma and depression was generally seen at the global level. These results indicated the importance of addressing the asthma-depression comorbidity as public-health and clinical management priorities, in order to improve the overall health of the countries.

The relationship between chronic physical conditions, multimorbidity and anxiety in the general population: A global perspective across 42 countries

“…In accordance with previous WHS publications, those who answered severe and extreme were considered to have anxiety [28,29].…”

“…A second limitation is that the anxiety variable used was based on a single question. However, this question has been used in previous WHS publications to define anxiety [28,29]. The assessment of the degree anxiety symptoms may have been enhanced by our use of severe and extreme categories.…”

Depression and pain: primary data and meta-analysis among 237 952 people across 47 low- and middle-income countries

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The association between psychosis and severe pain in community-dwelling adults: Findings from 44 low- and middle-income countries

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