Aussie study finds children with asthma at risk of anxiety

SYDNEY, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Research revealed by Australia's University of Queensland (UQ) on Wednesday has found that children with asthma are at a "significantly increased risk" of being diagnosed with anxiety.

Researchers from UQ School of Public Health reviewed 9,369 reports, using nearly 20 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 with asthma were more likely to develop anxiety between the ages of six and 15 years, in comparison to their non-asthmatic counterparts.

"We also found girls with asthma experienced more anxiety than boys in adolescence," said 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 percent more likely to develop anxiety than their medicated counterparts," said 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."

This study is published in the journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.

According to the World Health Organization, asthma affected an estimated 262 million people worldwide and was responsible for 455,000 deaths in 2019. Asthma is also the "most common chronic disease among children."