Aussie study finds children with asthma at risk of anxiety

Researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) have found that children with asthma are at a “significantly increased risk” of being diagnosed with anxiety.

The UQ School of Public health reviewed 9369 reports, using nearly twenty years of data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian children, with the health and well being of 10,000 children having been monitored since 2004.

Lead Author and PhD candidate, Diana Garcia Sanchez, has revealed that four-year-old children are more susceptible to anxiety between the ages of six and fifteen years, in comparison to their non asthmatic counterparts.

“We also found girls with asthma experienced more anxiety than boys in adolesence,” said Ms. Garcia Sanchez.

Findings also suggest that medication used in the treatment of asthma is not responsible for the significantly increased risk of developing anxiety.

“The children who were not taking asthma medication were 9 per cent more likely to develop anxiety than their medicated counterparts,” said Ms. Garcia Sanchez.

“Other factors could explain the link between asthma and anxiety, and health professionals and parents should regularly monitor the mental health of children and provide psychological support where appropriate.”

“This may help identify those most at risk of developing anxiety earlier and improve management of the condition.”

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), asthma affected an estimated 262 million people worldwide and was responsible for 455,000 deaths, in 2019.

WHO reports that asthma is the “most common chronic disease among children”.