Anxiety in Asthmatic Children during the COVID Pandemic

Background: Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children. Patients with asthma and their families tend to suffer from anxiety and depression. First evaluations suspected that patients with asthma were more prone to severe morbidity with COVID 19.

The COVID restrictions, including lockdowns and shut down of schools affected the mental health of many people around the world. Individuals with medical conditions were disproportionally impacted.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with asthma who are being followed at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center pediatric pulmonology clinic aged 10-18 years were recruited between October 2020 and May 2021. Beck Anxiety Inventory was used to evaluate anxiety. They were compared to healthy individuals with no chronic diagnoses at the same age.

Results: 93 patients with asthma and 74 healthy individuals were recruited. Aged 13.9±2.6 and 13.5±2.2 years respectively (p=0.56). there was no significant difference in anxiety levels between the two groups (average 5.88 in asthmatics, 6.12 in non asthmatics). NS, both defined minimal.

70% of the patients had minimal anxiety levels, 20% mild anxiety, 7.7% moderate and 1.7% had severe anxiety. No significant difference between asthmatics and non asthmatics.

However, asthmatic patients were more prone to answer positively about inability to relax, feeling lightheaded, feeling palpitations, fear of losing control, having difficulty breathing and feeling weak.

Conclusions: Children aged 10-18 years with asthma did not have more anxiety than healthy patients during the COVID pandemic, the vast majority of the children in both groups had minimal anxiety levels.