[Differences in sense of coherence in difficult and aspirin-induced asthma and it's links with severity of panic and depressive symptoms in subgroups of women and men].

AIM: The author examined psychiatrically a group of 106 patients with difficult asthma and 100 patients with aspirin-induced asthma. The special interest of the study were differences in sense of coherence in both groups and it's links with severity of panic and depressive symptoms in subgroups of asthmatic women and men.

METHODS

106 consecutive adults with confirmed, physician-diagnosed difficult asthma and 100 patients with aspirin-induced asthma underwent psychiatric interview and assessment using M.I.N.I 5.0, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Panic And Agoraphobia Scale (PAS) and Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29). Psychiatric assessment was performed by an experienced liaison psychiatrist according to ICD-10 and DSM-IV diagnosis. In the difficult asthma group, there were 78 women (74%) and 28 men (26%). The average age was 51.3 (SD = 14.5) for women and 47.5 (SD = 12.7) for men. In aspirin induced asthma group there were 66 women (66%) and 34 men (34%). The average age was 52.7 (SD = 12.3) for women and 48.8 (SD = 13.0) for men.

RESULTS

In both groups of asthmatic patients women were the majority (74% with difficult asthma and 66% with aspirin-induced asthma) with a much higher level of anxiety and depressive symptoms than men. General coherence and coherence measured in all three sub-scales were lower in the difficult asthma group, especially in women with severe panic and depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

It is possible that differences of coherence affect the development, course and severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms in asthmatic women and men. It may play a special role in development of difficult asthma especially among women.