Personality Types and Severity of Asthma

Asthma, similarly to other chronic conditions, is strongly influenced by psychological factors. Psychological factors that affect physical conditions have been well established, as it plays a major role in reduction of psychological disorders. There are numerous factors that may be involved in initiation of asthma attacks and there is growing evidence that emotional/ psychological stress is a trigger. Results show predominance of Neurotic characteristics and lowered Extroversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness & Conscientiousness characteristics in asthmatics as compared to the general Iranian population. Decreased Extroversion & Openness to Experience are observed as the severity and duration of the disease increase. Results also indicate that there is a strong correlation between various levels of stress, depression, excitability, anxiety symptoms and severity of asthma among elder people suffering from asthma. There is a significant sex difference in the effect of psychological factors in asthma risk. A high extroversion score is a strong predictor of incident asthma among women. Prevalent asthma decreases life satisfaction and is associated with a high neuroticism score.