Depressive symptoms amongst asthmatic children's caregivers

Szabó A, Mezei G, Kővári É, Cserháti E. Depressive symptoms amongst asthmatic children’s caregivers. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2010: 21: e667–e673. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons A/S We wanted to find out, whether the number of depressive symptoms is higher amongst asthmatic children’s caregivers, compared to international data, to the Hungarian population average, and to parents of children with chronic renal disease. Are these depressive symptoms connected to the children’s psychological status, asthma severity or current asthma symptoms? One‐hundred and eight, 7‐ to 17‐yr‐old asthmatic children were enrolled, who have been treated at the Semmelweis University, First Department of Pediatrics. Children were suffering from asthma for at least 1 yr, with a median of 8 yr (1–16 yr), they started to develop asthmatic symptoms between the age of 0.5–14 yr (median: 3 yr). We also identified 27 children with chronic renal diseases and their caregivers, who functioned as a control group. Children were asked to complete the Hungarian‐validated versions of the Child Depression Inventory, the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory for Children and the Juniper Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire. Asthma severity and current symptoms were also documented, 56% had no symptoms on the preceding week. Caregivers were asked to complete the Hungarian versions of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) short form, the Spielberger Anxiety Inventory and the Juniper Pediatric Asthma Caregivers’ Quality of Life Questionnaire. Caregivers of asthmatic children had significantly more depressive symptoms (7.73 ± 6.69 s.d.) than the age‐specific normal population (p