Improvement of Psychological Symptoms With the Treatment of Asthma

Abstract

Aim:To evaluate the psychological status of patients with currently diagnosed asthma at the time of diagnosis and in the follow-up after the inhaled steroid treatment is initiated.Methods: Patients with mild and moderate persistant asthma were accepted to the study. Patients with a previous history of psychiatric disease were excluded. Symptom Check List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) test was performed to currently diagnosed asthma patients. SCL-90-R test was repeated 3 and 6 months after the treatment was initiated. Evaluating the test, global severity index and symptom sub-indices (somatization, obsessive-compulsive signs, depression, anxiety, hostility, fobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism) were obtained.Results: Twenty five female and 5 male patients were accepted to the study. Mean age was 41.2±15.1 years. There was a significant decrease in global severity index in the 6 th month according to the basal values. Significant decrease in the scores for depression, anxiety, paranoid ideation in the third month (p=0.046, p=0.047, p=0.047 respectively) and for somatization (p=0.012), obsessive-compulsive signs (p=0.037), depression (p=0.001), anxiety (p=0.003), hostility (p=0.021), paranoids ideation (p=0.003) was obtained in the 6 th month according to the basal values.Conclusion: Asthma treatment improves psychological status of the patients with bronchial asthma. This was considered to be related with the relief of the symptoms of asthma.