Asthma severity in teens increases in presence of anxiety

Anxiety appears to influence asthma severity in adolescents, as shown in a recent cross-sectional study.

The school-based study included 4,514 adolescents (54.6 percent female) between 14 and 19 years of age. Researchers collected data using the adapted Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS), the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire, and the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A).

Of the participants, 26.5 percent had active asthma (ie, wheezing in the past 12 months), with 10 percent having severe asthma (ie, wheezing so severe that the participant could say only one or two words between breaths in the past 12 months). A total of 46.7 percent of participants had mild anxiety, with 27.2 percent having moderate-to-intense anxiety.

The prevalence of active asthma, defined as self-reported wheezing in the past 12 months, was 26.5%, while the prevalence of severe asthma, defined as, was 10.0%. Mild anxiety was identified in 46.7% of the sample, and 27.2% presented with moderate to intense anxiety levels.

Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that compared with adolescents who had no anxiety, those with moderate-to-intense anxiety had 1.6-fold increased odds of active asthma (odds ratio [OR], 1.6, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.3–2.0) and around twofold greater odds of severe asthma (OR, 2.1, 95 percent CI, 1.5–3.0).

The analyses were adjusted for potential confounding factors including social anxiety, age, sex, physical activity level, maternal education, parental asthma, parental smoking, and municipality.

The findings underscore the potential relevance of considering mental health in asthma management strategies, the researchers said. This is because emotional distress may modulate symptom perception and negatively affect treatment adherence.