Relationships between psychological variables relevant to asthma and patients' quality of life.

The relationships between health-related quality of life and various psychological variables relevant to the clinical evolution of bronchial asthma were evaluated for 101 asthma patients ages 14 to 72 years. Scores on quality of life exhibited a significant negative correlation with perceived vulnerability, panic-fear personality, and irritability, fatigue, airway obstruction, hyperventilation, and panic-fear during attacks but was not significantly correlated with preventive behaviour, attack-related behaviour, recognition, and control of respiratory function, or quality of care. These results imply that the effects of the former group of variables should be taken into account when assessing asthmatic patients' quality of life.