Stressful life events promote the manifestation of asthma and atopic diseases

SummaryAims: To examine how subjects with relief or worsening of asthma symptoms differ in terms of gender, age, severity and duration of asthma, comorbidity, and difficulties with medication and daily life. Methods: A postal inquiry among a sample of 6000 adults with clinically diagnosed asthma and/or other chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Results: Relief of asthma symptoms over a 12-month period was associated with a recent asthma diagnosis, within five years, in both sexes. Lack of current smoking and lack of problems in using anti-asthmatic treatment were associated with a positive outcome in men, and mild asthma and living alone associated with a positive outcome in women. Severe and moderate asthma predicted worse symptoms in both sexes, as did other obstructive pulmonary diseases, living alone, and medication problems amongst men. Conclusions: Patients with asthma should be cared for comprehensively, requiring consideration of both clinical and psychosocial factors that can modify the course of the disease.

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“…It seems that latent COPD did not significantly interfere with the results. Our results give support to earlier reports [5][6][7][8][9].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Inhaled corticosteroids play a major part in this [1,2], but environmental circumstances [3,4], smoking [5,6] and psychosocial and emotional factors [7][8][9] may also have an effect on the frequency of symptoms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What lies behind relief and worsening of asthma symptoms? A register-based study of adults with asthma and other chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases in Finland

Ikäheimo

Hartikainen

Tuuponen

et al. 2006

Primary Care Respiratory Journal

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“…[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] Caregiver stress, negative life events, problematic family relationships, parenting difficulties, critical attitudes of one's mother and violence exposure have been related to wheeze, asthma onset, and/or adverse asthma outcomes among infants and youths. 14,15,[20][21][22][29][30][31][32][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] The housing and health relationship has long been acknowledged, not surprising given that water, warmth, air, shelter, and safety are fundamental human needs. 42 US children spend as much as 80-90% of their time indoors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress and the City: Housing Stressors are Associated with Respiratory Health among Low Socioeconomic Status Chicago Children

et al. 2010

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Asthma disproportionately affects non-whites in urban areas and those of low socioeconomic status, yet asthma's social patterning is not well-explained by known risk factors. We hypothesized that disadvantaged urban populations experience acute and chronic housing stressors which produce psychological stress and impact health through biological and behavioral pathways. We examined eight outcomes: six child respiratory outcomes as well as parent and child general health, using data from 682 low-income, Chicago parents of diagnosed and undiagnosed asthmatic children. We created a continuous exposure, representing material, social and emotional dimensions of housing stressors, weighted by their parent-reported difficulty. We compared the 75th to the 25th quartile of exposure in adjusted binomial and negative binomial regression models. Higher risks and rates of poor health were associated with higher housing stressors for six of eight outcomes. The risk difference (RD) for poor/fair general health was larger for children [RD=6.28 (95% CI 1.22, 11.35)] than for parents [RD=3.88 (95% CI −1.87, 9.63)]. The incidence rate difference (IRD) for exercise intolerance was nearly one extra day per 2 weeks for the higher exposure group [IRD= 0.88 (95% CI 0.41, 1.35)]; nearly one-third extra day per 2 weeks for waking at night [IRD=0.32 (95% CI 0.01, 0.63)]; and nearly one-third extra day per 6 months for unplanned medical visits [IRD=0.30 (95% CI 0.059, 0.54)]. Results contribute to the conceptualization of urban stress as a "social pollutant" and to the hypothesized role of stress in health disparities. Interventions to improve asthma outcomes must address individuals' reactions to stress while we seek structural solutions to residential stressors and health inequities.

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“…A few previous studies reported increased risks for asthma, allergic sensitization and eczema in relation to stressful life events for the pregnant mother [6][7][8][9]. In addition to these 'historic' publications, further relevant papers were published in the last 5 years.…”

Section: Adverse Life Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can prenatal maternal stress increase the risk of asthma?

Heinrich

2015

Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine

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Stressful life events promote the manifestation of asthma and atopic diseases

Abstract: An association between stressful life events and subjects' asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and atopic dermatitis is suggested.

Cited by 129 publications

References 39 publications

What lies behind relief and worsening of asthma symptoms? A register-based study of adults with asthma and other chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases in Finland

What lies behind relief and worsening of asthma symptoms? A register-based study of adults with asthma and other chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases in Finland

Stress and the City: Housing Stressors are Associated with Respiratory Health among Low Socioeconomic Status Chicago Children

Can prenatal maternal stress increase the risk of asthma?

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