Background : Psychological factors influences the course of asthma and clinical observations
suggest that the asthma and stress are closely related to one another
Αim : The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of asthma in teenagers and
young adults and to investigate any relation between asthma , anxiety and depression.
Material and method: The sample of the present study consisted of 1148 students aged 15-25
years old. Questionnaires on asthma (European Community Respiratory Health Survey
Questionnaire), depression and anxiety (Bedford & Foulds questionnaire) were used. The level of
importance was 0,05. SPSS for Windows, 8.0 version was used for statistical processing.
Results : 31,1% of the participants were males and 68,9% females. The medium age was 18,9
years. The frequency of asthma amounted to the 9,3%, while the asthmatic crises the last year
(current asthma) amounted to the 3,4%. Anxiety and depression were statistically more
prevalent among persons with asthma, in comparison to students without asthma and to healthy
individuals, p<0,005. 75 % and 50 % of the students with asthma scored above 6 in the anxiety
and depression scale respectively, whereas percentages in non-asthmatic children were 12%
and 9% respectively.
Conclusion: Anxiety and depression are prevalent among youngsters with asthma. A further
relation between asthma and central nervous system is suggested.