Asthma Prevalence May Be Higher in Older Patients With Behavioral Health Issues

Research presented at the American College of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting suggests that appropriate behavioral health (BH) treatment may improve outcomes in older patients, given the prevalence of BH issues in seniors with asthma. Pulmonology Advisor reports that the investigators used data from the 2010 Medicare 5 percent sample in patients 65 years and older to identify persons with asthma and four different BH conditions. They were compared with a group of non-asthmatic individuals with matching propensity scores for age, gender, and race, and an equal reference size. The prevalence of asthma was 3.73 percent, while incidence of asthma in patients with substance abuse disorder was 9.18 percent versus 5.34 percent without asthma. Asthma incidence in patients with anxiety was 1.89 percent compared to 1.26 percent without asthma, and incidence in patients with depression was 0.18 percent versus 0.08 percent without asthma. Finally, asthma incidence in psychiatric disorders was 1.05 percent against 1.19 percent among controls. The outcomes point to a need for public policy and health plan design to highlight BH screening for people with chronic asthma, including those in Medicare. The researchers concluded that "proactive screening for BH conditions followed by appropriate treatment will likely improve patient outcomes."