Psychosocial factors and susceptibility to or outcome of acute respiratory tract infections [Review article]

OBJECTIVE: To perform a systematic review of the literature to assess the possible effect that psychosocial variables may have on the susceptibility and/or outcome of acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs).METHODS: We performed searches for relevant studies on PubMed, Scopus and PsychInfo.RESULTS: We identified 44 studies published between 1986 and 2008, examining the role of psychosocial variables and the onset or progression of ARTI. Of these 44 studies, 41 (93.1%) showed at least one statistically significant association between psychosocial variables and susceptibility to ARTI; 20 (45.5%) revealed at least one statistically significant association between psychosocial variables and outcome of ARTI. Variables associated with susceptibility to and outcome of infection were higher levels of perceived stress, negative affect, anxiety and depression. Negative life events were associated with susceptibility to infection.CONCLUSION: Most of the relevant studies show a significant relationship between psychosocial factors and the onset or progression of acute respiratory tract illness. However, the psychosocial variables were not consistently evaluated across the included studies, and different methodological approaches were used to examine the association between psychosocial factors and acute respiratory tract illness.