HEALTH SCIENCE JOURNAL ® VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3 (2011) Anxiety and depression in teenagers and young adults with asthma 229 pp: 229-236 E-ISSN:1791-809X www.hsj.gr Health Science Journal® All Rights Reserved Original Article Anxiety and depression in teenagers and young adults with asthma                      !     " 1. RN, MSc, PhD, Professor of Nursing Department, TEI of Larissa. 2. MD, PhD, Research Fellow of Nursing Department, TEI of Larissa. 3. RN, MSc, Clinical Professor of Nursing Department, TEI of Larissa. 4. RN, Candidate MSc, Laboratory Collaborator of Nursing Department, TEI of Larissa. 5. RN, MPH, Clinical Professor of Nursing Department, TEI of Larissa. 6. RN, Laboratory Collaborator of Nursing Department, TEI of Larissa.                      ! "#  ! $  Abstract Background : Psychological factors influences the course of asthma and clinical observations suggest that the asthma and stress are closely related to one another Αim : The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of asthma in teenagers and young adults and to investigate any relation between asthma , anxiety and depression. Material and method: The sample of the present study consisted of 1148 students aged 15-25 years old. Questionnaires on asthma (European Community Respiratory Health Survey Questionnaire), depression and anxiety (Bedford & Foulds questionnaire) were used. The level of importance was 0,05. SPSS for Windows, 8.0 version was used for statistical processing. Results : 31,1% of the participants were males and 68,9% females. The medium age was 18,9 years. The frequency of asthma amounted to the 9,3%, while the asthmatic crises the last year (current asthma) amounted to the 3,4%. Anxiety and depression were statistically more prevalent among persons with asthma, in comparison to students without asthma and to healthy individuals, p<0,005. 75 % and 50 % of the students with asthma scored above 6 in the anxiety and depression scale respectively, whereas percentages in non-asthmatic children were 12% and 9% respectively. Conclusion: Anxiety and depression are prevalent among youngsters with asthma. A further relation between asthma and central nervous system is suggested. Keywords : anxiety, depression, asthma, young Corresponding author: Kotrotsiou Evagelia Address: Nikaia Larissa 415 00 Tel. +2410684256 E-mail:kotrotsi@teilar.gr