ABSTRACT
Background. Bronchial asthma is a serious global health problem. Depression, the most common mood disorder, is often found to be higher among people with chronic health conditions like bronchial asthma. Methods. Patients with newly diagnosed to have bronchial asthma (n=100) who fulfilled the study criteria were evaluated for depression with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score. Severity and level of bronchial asthma control were determined as per Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines. Subjective asthma severity was assessed by Perceived Control of Asthma Questionnaire. Follow-up evaluation was done after three months of asthma management with the same study tools. Results. In our study population, 65% asthma patients showed depression on first visit (95% Confidence interval [CI] 55.65-74.35). Correlation coefficient between subjective asthma severity and severity of depression was –0.945 (p<0.001) while correlation coefficient between objective asthma severity and depression severity was 0.066 (p=0.515). In follow-up visit after asthma management 63% patients still had depression (95% CI 53.54-72.46). Correlation coefficient between objective asthma control and depression severity was 0.1 (p=0.320). Correlation coefficient between subjective asthma severity and severity of depression was –0.979 (p<0.001). Conclusions. Our observational study suggests that depression is highly prevalent in asthma patients. There is a high inverse correlation between depression and patient’s perception of asthma control. However, no significant correlation could be observed between objective measures of asthma severity and depression.