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Background: Asthma is associated not only with lower health-related quality of life (HRQL) but also with psychological health and insomnia. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between HRQL, asthma symptoms, psychological status and insomnia in adults from three Nordic countries. Methods: This study comprised 2,270 subjects aged 29-55 from Sweden, Iceland and Norway. HRQL was measured with the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). The physical (PCS) and mental health (MCS) component scores were calculated with higher values, indicating better health status. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Insomnia was assessed with the Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire. An asthma score consisting of a sum of the positive answers to five respiratory symptoms was used in the analysis. Spirometry and allergy tests were also performed. Results: High HADS and sleep disturbance scores were both related to a low PCS and MCS, respectively, after adjusting for confounders. High age and high body mass index (BMI) were associated with low scores on the PCS, whilst the opposite was found for the MCS. A higher asthma score was related to a low PCS. An interaction between the HADS and the asthma symptom score was observed for the PCS (P = 0.0002), where associations between psychological status and the PCS were more pronounced for individuals with more symptoms than for individuals without symptoms. Conclusions: In this study, we found that HRQL of life was independently related to the HADS, insomnia and asthma symptoms. Further prospective studies to identify the most efficient target for intervention in order to improve asthma control are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Insomnia symptoms are common with asthma. The aim of the study was to analyse the associations between insomnia symptoms and asthma control, asthma severity, and asthma‐related comorbidity in a community‐based population. Methods: Adults (n = 23 875, ages 18‐45) from the community‐based LifeGene study answered a questionnaire on insomnia symptoms, airway symptoms, asthma diagnosis, asthma medication, and asthma‐related comorbidities (chronic rhinosinusitis, gastro‐oesophageal reflux, anxiety, depression, or obesity). Results: Of the participants, 1272 (5.3%) had asthma. The prevalence of any insomnia symptom was higher in participants with uncontrolled asthma (n = 201) than with controlled or partially controlled asthma (32.2% vs 19.9% and 20.1%, respectively, P <.01). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of insomnia symptoms between subjects with controlled asthma and subjects without asthma. Subjects with asthma and any asthma‐related comorbidity reported more insomnia symptoms (29.0% vs 22.4%, P <.01) compared to asthmatics without comorbidity. Moreover, the prevalence was highest among subjects reporting both uncontrolled asthma and any asthma‐related comorbidity (45.1%, P <.01). Uncontrolled asthma remained significantly associated with insomnia symptoms (OR 1.72 (1.15‐2.56)) after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, smoking history, comorbidities, physical activity, and educational level, while medication level was not. Among asthma‐related comorbidities, chronic rhinosinusitis (OR 1.62 (1.20‐2.19)), obesity (1.87 (1.07‐3.25)), and depression (OR 1.85 (1.34‐2.55)) were independently associated with insomnia symptoms. Conclusion: Uncontrolled asthma was significantly associated with insomnia symptoms, while controlled or partially controlled asthma was not. Asthma‐related comorbidity is of great importance, and asthma control seems to be more important than asthma severity for insomnia symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Asthma-related quality of life has previously been shown to be associated with asthma control. The aims of the present study were to further analyze this correlation, identify other variables with impact on asthma-related quality of life and investigate the covariance among these variables.Methods: Information was retrieved from a cohort of 369 patients, aged 12–35, with physician-diagnosed asthma requiring anti-inflammatory treatment for at least 3 months per year. Questionnaire data [including the mini-Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (mAQLQ), asthma control test (ACT) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)], quality of sleep, lung function data and blood samples were analyzed. Linear regression models with the mAQLQ score as the dependent scalar variable were calculated.Results: ACT was the single variable that had the highest explanatory value for the mAQLQ score (51.5%). High explanatory power was also observed for anxiety and depression (17.0%) and insomnia (14.1%). The population was divided into groups depending on the presence of anxiety and depression, uncontrolled asthma and insomnia. The group that reported none of these conditions had the highest mean mAQLQ score (6.3 units), whereas the group reporting all of these conditions had the lowest mAQLQ score (3.8 units).Conclusions: The ACT score was the single most important variable in predicting asthma-related quality of life. Combining the ACT score with the data on insomnia, anxiety and depression showed considerable additive effects of the conditions. Hence, we recommend the routine use of the ACT and careful attention to symptoms of insomnia, anxiety or depression in the clinical evaluation of asthma-related quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]