Asthma does not compromise mental health in teens

Asthma does not seem to hurt mental wellbeing among adolescents, though it may worsen general health, a recent study has found.

Drawing from the Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy study, researchers enrolled 2,651, 2,522, 2,094, and 2,206 participants aged 11, 14, 17, and 20 years, respectively. Questionnaires were used to collect information regarding mental wellbeing, as defined by the Mental Health Index-5 (MHI-5), and the participants’ (or their guardians’) perception of their general health.

The presence of at least two of the following criteria determined asthma: doctor diagnosis, wheezing or whistling in the chest in the last 12 months, or prescribed asthma medications in the last 12 months.

Adolescents with intermittent asthma scored 0.51 points higher than comparators without asthma on the MHI-5. On the other hand, those with persistent asthma earned –0.50 points fewer. Since the MHI-5 scores ran through a scale of 0–100, such differences turned out to be insignificant, suggesting that asthma had no clear effect on the mental wellbeing of adolescents.

However, asthmatic participants were significantly less likely to have good or excellent health than peers without the condition (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for intermittent asthma, 0.37, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.26–0.51; aOR for persistent asthma, 0.33, 95 percent CI, 0.25–0.41). This interaction did not differ significantly according to age or sex.

“Our findings provide insight into adolescents’ experience with asthma and are hopeful and highlight the positive health approach: having asthma does not restrain them from feeling mentally well during adolescence,” the researchers said.