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Depressive symptoms, quality of sleep, and disease control in women with asthma

  • Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original Article
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Abstract

Purpose

A large number of asthmatic patients, particularly females, present inadequate disease control. Depressive symptoms are reportedly common in asthma and have been related to poor disease control, but the mechanism of this association is still unclear. Poor quality sleep, frequently observed in asthmatics, is also a manifestation of depression and has been related to uncontrolled asthma. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms, sleep quality, and asthma control.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study of 123 women with previous diagnosis of asthma from a reference center in Fortaleza, Brazil. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); quality of sleep was evaluated by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), daytime sleepiness by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and asthma control by the Asthma Control Test (ACT).

Results

Inadequate asthma control (ACT <20) was found in 94 (76.4 %) subjects, depressive symptoms in 92 (74.8 %), poor quality sleep (PSQI >5) in 99 (80.49 %), and excessive daytime sleepiness (ESS ≥10) in 34 (27.64 %). Depressive symptoms were associated with both poor quality sleep (R = 0.326) and inadequate asthma control (R = −0.299). Regression analysis showed that depressive symptoms and sleep quality were independent predictors of the level of asthma control.

Conclusion

Asthma control in women is independently associated with depressive symptoms and quality of sleep, suggesting that these patients might benefit from simple measures to promote healthy sleep behavior and sleep hygiene and also that routine screening for depression can be relevant, particularly, in poorly controlled cases.

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Acknowledgments

Thisciane F. Pinto and Francineide Lima Campos were the recipients of scholarships from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil, and Francisco Girleudo Coutinho da Silva was the recipient of a scholarship from the Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (FUNCAP). The authors wish to thank Mr. Antonio Brazil Viana Júnior for the technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Farmácia, Odontologia e Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil

    Francineide Lima Campos & Thisciane Ferreira Pinto

  2. Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Rua Prof. Costa Mendes, 1.608, 4o andar, Fortaleza, CE, CEP 60430-140, Brazil

    Pedro Felipe Carvalhedo de Bruin, Francisco Girleudo Coutinho da Silva, Eanes Delgado Barros Pereira & Veralice Meireles Sales de Bruin

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  1. Francineide Lima Campos
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Correspondence to Pedro Felipe Carvalhedo de Bruin.

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No funding was received for this research.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.

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Informed consent was obtained from all the individual participants included in the study.

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Campos, F.L., de Bruin, P.F.C., Pinto, T.F. et al. Depressive symptoms, quality of sleep, and disease control in women with asthma. Sleep Breath 21, 361–367 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-016-1422-0

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