Depression and asthma are very common chronic conditions associated with high socioeconomic burdens on the health system. Systematic reviews and population-based cohort studies have reported a strong link between psychosocial factors and asthma without a clear temporal relationship.
The study is a retrospective of the Centers for Disease Control National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2020 data, which monitors the health of the US population
A total of 31,568 participants, 4,483 (14.2%) reported having asthma. Among participants who had never had asthma, 25% had experienced an asthma episode in the past 12 months. Compared with non-depressed participants with asthma, asthma attacks were most frequently reported by participants who felt depressed daily, followed by weekly, monthly, and several times per year (41.4% [non-depressed] vs 37.4% [daily] and 27.6%). [weekly] vs 25.3% [monthly] vs 18.7% [several times a year],P < .0001). In the regression analysis, after controlling for age, gender, race, anti-asthma medications, and smoking status, participants felt depressed every day, compared with participants who did not feel depressed. were found to be more likely to receive a mental health-related diagnosis. The findings show a correlation between the severity of depression and the likelihood of asthma attacks, using an updated US national study among non-hospitalized patients. One theory suggests that elevated inflammatory mediators associated with depression may have a pathogenic role in asthma. Therefore, identifying asthmatics who can achieve better symptom control with improvement in depressive symptoms may improve respiration, respiratory function, and quality of life in these patients. This improved symptom control could theoretically reduce the severe asthma exacerbations in patients with depression, leading to lower healthcare costs.
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