Close correlation between anxiety, depression, and asthma control

Background: We investigated the correlation between patients' characteristics, including anxiety and depression, and the level. of asthma control evaluated by asthma control test (ACT), a self-administered validated questionnaire. Methods: This is a cross-sectional. study on asthmatic outpatients of three Italian hospitals. Demographic data, spirometry, anxiety and depression scores as well as the level of asthma control from 315 patients were collected. Results: Patients with poorly controlled asthma were more frequently women, older, with a worse pulmonary function, obese, more anxious and/or more depressed. Four different independent factors associated with poor asthma control evaluated by ACT have been found: FEV1 < 60% (odds ratio, OR: 6.52), anxiety (OR: 3.76), age >= 65 years (OR: 2.69), and depression (OR: 2.45). The presence of anxiety and depression was associated with a higher healthcare utilization. Finally, we found a high level of agreement between ACT and multidimensional GINA approach in evaluating asthma control, with a concordance in 239 patients (81% of the population). Conclusion: There is a close correlation between anxiety and depression, and a poor asthma. A better understanding of this association may have major clinical implications, mainly in patients with poor controlled asthma in whom the presence of anxiety and depression should be investigated. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.