Asthma, Allergies Raise Risk of Psychiatric Disorders

The presence of allergic diseases—such as bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis—is associated with a 1.66-times higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders, according to new findings.

In a study of 186,588 patients enrolled in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program, researchers investigated potential associations of bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis with psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders.
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Of these patients, 46,647 had allergic diseases, while the remaining 139,941 patients from the 2000-2015 Longitudinal Health Insurance Dataset served as controls. Follow-up lasted 15 years.

Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using Fine & Gray’s competing risk model analysis for the potential association of allergic diseases and the risk of developing psychiatric disorders over the course of follow-up.

Findings revealed that 5038 (10.8%) cases and 9376 (6.7%) controls had developed psychiatric disorders, with an adjusted HR of 1.659.

Specifically, the researchers found that the presence of bronchial asthma alone, allergic rhinitis alone, bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma and atopic dermatitis, and a combination of all 3 conditions were associated with a higher risk for psychiatric disorders.

They also found that the presence of atopic dermatitis alone and combined allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis were associated with the risk of developing psychiatric disorders, although to a lesser extent.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Tzeng NS, Chang HA, Chung CH, et al. Increased risk of psychiatric disorders in allergic diseases: a nationwide, population-based cohort study Front Psychiatry. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00133

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