Symptoms of Depression along with unhealthy habits are common amongst individuals with asthma, a telephone survey conducted in Israel found.

Aviva Goral, MSc, of the Unit of Mental Health Epidemiology and Psychosocial Aspects of Illness in Tel Hashomer, and colleagues surveyed 9,509 Israeli adults. Their results suggest that even mild depressive symptoms, with no accompanying diagnosis of clinical depression may be associated with such health-related risk factors as smoking, physical inactivity and insufficient sleep. The findings sit with other studies that found that negative health-related risk factors lead to poor asthma control and may contribute to the link between asthma and depression.

Among those surveyed who reported having asthma, 37.4% had symptoms of depression compared with 21.8% of those without asthma.

Publishing their report in General Hospital Psychiatry, Goral and colleagues showed that asthmatic individuals with depressive symptoms were at higher risk of unhealthy behaviors, including:

  • Physical Inactivity
  • Smoking
  • Less than six hours’ sleep at night

Overall, adults with asthma showed increased rates of psychiatric problems, including depression, which in turn can have an adverse impact on their asthma control.

It’s a vicious circle where depressed patients don’t take care of themselves so their Asthma worsens and that leads them to be more depressed, which means they don’t take care of themselves. Not only can this circle worsen the morbidity and mortality risks associated with their pulmonary disorder, but also it can lead to greater psychiatric morbidity.

Previous studies involving patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease demonstrated a link between having symptoms of depression, but the data was from patients with more severe pulmonary illness, and may not reflect the wider experience of individuals with asthma.

The researchers stated :

“One possible mechanism which may explain the association between asthma and depression is the link with health-related risk factors and behaviors.”

To explore the relationships between asthma, symptoms of depression, and health-related risk factors and behaviors, they analyzed data from the Israeli National Health Interview Survey, which was conducted in 2003 and 2004.

Tobacco plays a part as well. One-third of asthmatics who had symptoms of depression smoked, and more than 70% were not physically active. In comparison, only about 20% of those with asthma but without depression were smokers, and only half were physically inactive.

“Engagement in routine physical activity is an important component of optimal asthma management as well as in the management of mental disorders.”

The researchers concluded that doctors should be aware of the overlap between asthma and depressive symptoms, even in patients who have not been given a specific diagnosis of depression.

“Future longitudinal studies could elucidate causal mechanisms which may explain the association between respiratory conditions and mental disorders.”

Written by Rupert Shepherd