Behavior problems and prevalence of asthma symptoms among Brazilian children

Abstract

ObjectiveAsthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood and has been designated a public health problem due to the increase in its prevalence in recent decades, the amount of health service expenditure it absorbs and an absence of consensus about its etiology. The relationships among psychosocial factors and the occurrence, symptomatology, and severity of asthma have recently been considered. There is still controversy about the association between asthma and a child's mental health, since the pathways through which this relationship is established are complex and not well researched. This study aims to investigate whether behavior problems are associated with the prevalence of asthma symptoms in a large urban center in Latin America.MethodsIt is a cross-section study of 869 children between 6 and 12 years old, residents of Salvador, Brazil. The International Study of Allergy and Asthma in Childhood (ISAAC) instrument was used to evaluate prevalence of asthma symptoms. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was employed to evaluate behavioral problems.Results19.26% (n = 212) of the children presented symptoms of asthma. 35% were classified as having clinical behavioral problems. Poisson's robust regression model demonstrated a statistically significant association between the presence of behavioral problems and asthma symptoms occurrence (PR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.10–1.85).ConclusionThese results suggest an association between behavioral problems and pediatric asthma, and support the inclusion of mental health care in the provision of services for asthma morbidity.

The familial aggregation of atopic diseases and depression or anxiety in children

“…Of all the atopic diseases we studied, the association between asthma and depression or anxiety was the strongest. Our effect estimates for asthma were comparable with other studies using cohorts of comparable age . In regard to the other atopic diseases, although less studied than asthma, our study contributes to the growing body of epidemiological evidence finding that eczema, food allergy and rhinitis are each associated with depression or anxiety in children.…”

Prevalence of behavior problems and associated factors in preschool children from the city of Salvador, state of Bahia, Brazil

“…7,16,21 The prevalence of behavior problems found in this study (23.5%) falls within the range reported in other investigations conducted in developing countries (12 to 29%). 9 Regarding the prevalence found in Brazilian studies, the prevalence of our sample was lower than those described by Vitolo et al 13 in Taubaté (35.2%) and by Feitosa et al 40 in Salvador. However, these two studies were carried out on children at a different stage of development (age 6 to 12 years).…”

Anxiety, depression and self-esteem in children with well-controlled asthma: case-control study

“…The interpretation of these conflicting results is hampered by the differences in study design and methods. Patients came from different ethnic backgrounds, which may have influenced the degree of psychological morbidity observed 4 25 26. There is also considerable variety between studies in the assessment methods of psychological symptoms.…”