OBJECTIVE To evaluate the presence and severity of symptoms of anxiety and depression in individuals with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. METHODS In order to evaluate symptoms of anxiety and depression, specific instruments of quantification (the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory, respectively) were administered to patients at an outpatient clini...

By the second decade of life asthma symptoms often abate and it may seem that patients with mild asthma have "outgrown" the disease. Unfortunately this is likely to be the exception rather than the rule. Although the severity of asthma symptoms fluctuates with time, the inherited tendency towards respiratory symptoms never disappears and many teenagers who seem to be free of symptoms do, in fac...

response is consistent with the main finding of our study, which was a reduction in asthma exacerbations. The main difference was the prominence of heartburn in our study and the prominence of upper airway symptoms in the reported case. However, many patients in our study also had symptoms of globus, hoarseness, and cough, and the patient in the reported case also had heartburn. Second, the sev...

BACKGROUND Despite widely available data about childhood asthma, there are limited data about the prevalence of asthma among young adults in Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of asthma and respiratory symptoms among medical students in the city of Sari in Northern Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS The prevalence of asthma and respiratory symptoms was studied using a standa...

The aim of the study was to compare physician/patient differences in the perception of asthma. The data were obtained by questionnaires from 156 physicians and 148 asthmatics in four urban regions in Croatia. On a "bad day", 62% of physicians and 16% of patients perceived respiratory symptoms with statistically significant difference. The patients described asthma impact in terms of reduced dai...

BACKGROUND There is a need for a new respiratory symptoms questionnaire for use in epidemiological research in asthma. METHOD A questionnaire was designed following a pilot study in 78 subjects. It contains nine questions on symptoms such as wheeze and difficulty with breathing in defined circumstances such as exercise and sleep. It was completed by 211 adults and validated by comparison with...

Up to 80% of asthmatic children may experience upper airway symptoms which are often perceived as coming from the lower airways. Currently, there are no validated questionnaires to assess upper airway contribution to pediatric asthma symptoms. The Sino-Nasal 5 (SN-5) questionnaire was previously validated for identifying radiographic confirmed sinus disease in children. In this study, we hypoth...

Understanding of geographical differences in asthma prevalence may be helpful in explaining recent increases in the occurrence of asthma. We wondered whether differences in allergic sensitization or other factors could explain differences in reported occurrence of asthma between an urban centre and a neighbouring suburban area. From the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) quest...