Psychosocial Distress as a Risk Factor for Asthma Mortality

Abstract

Background:

Asthma is a mayor public health issue; its prevalence has increased in recent decades world wide. However, focus on biological risk factors has not fully explained this trend. A mounting body of research evidence suggests that psychosocial distress is likely to be a factor contributing to the development of asthma.

Purpose:

To estimate the effect of psychosocial distress on asthma mortality rate at the aggregate level.

Method:

Trends in age-adjusted, sex-specific suicide (as an integral indicator for psychosocial distress) and asthma mortality rate in Russia from 1956 to 2005 were analyzed employing an ARIMA analysis in order to asses bivariate relationship between the two time series.

Results:

Time series analysis indicates the presence of statistically significant association between the two time series for male. The association between the two time series for female also positive, however, statistically not significant.

Conclusion:

The findings of the present study add to the growing number of studies linking psychosocial distress to asthma expression and mortality. This paper presents new epidemiological evidence that supports psychosomatic concept of asthma.