Comorbidities in adults with asthma: Population‐based cross‐sectional analysis of 1.4 million adults in Scotland
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Comorbidity in people with asthma can significantly increase asthma morbidity and lower adherence to asthma guidelines. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to comprehensively measure the prevalence of physical and mental health comorbidities in adults with asthma using a large nationally representative population. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of routine primary care electronic medical records for 1 424 378 adults in the UK, examining the prevalence of 39 comorbidities in people with and without asthma, before and after adjustment for age, sex, social deprivation and smoking status using logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 39 comorbidities measured, 36 (92%) were significantly more common in adults with asthma; 62.6% of adults with asthma had ≥1 comorbidity vs 46.2% of those without, and 16.3% had ≥4 comorbidities vs 8.7% of those without. Comorbidities with the largest absolute increase in prevalence in adults with asthma were as follows: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (13.4% vs 3.1%), depression (17.3% vs 9.1%), painful conditions (15.4% vs 8.4%) and dyspepsia (10.9% vs 5.2%). Comorbidities with the largest relative difference in adults with asthma compared to those without were as follows: COPD (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 5.65, 95% CI 5.52-5.79), bronchiectasis (aOR 4.65, 95% CI 4.26-5.08), eczema/psoriasis (aOR 3.30, 95% CI 3.14-3.48), dyspepsia (aOR 2.20, 95% CI 2.15-2.25) and chronic sinusitis (aOR 2.12, 95% CI 1.99-2.26). Depression and anxiety were more common in adults with asthma (aOR 1.60, 95% CI 1.57-1.63, and aOR 1.53, 95% CI 1.48-1.57, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Physical and mental health comorbidities are the norm in adults with asthma. Appropriate recognition and management should form part of routine asthma care.
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Almost two-thirds (62.6%) of patients with asthma have at least one comorbid condition.
“Almost two-thirds (62.6%) of patients with asthma have at least one comorbid condition with 16% having four co-morbidities (180).”
From Epidemiology of Asthma in Children and Adults (2019) · cites this paper as [180]
16% of patients with asthma have four co-morbidities.
“Almost two-thirds (62.6%) of patients with asthma have at least one comorbid condition with 16% having four co-morbidities (180).”
From Epidemiology of Asthma in Children and Adults (2019) · cites this paper as [180]
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Epidemiology of Asthma in Children and Adults
Dharmage, S. C., Perret, J. L., & Custovic, A. (2019) · Frontiers in Pediatrics · doi:10.3389/fped.2019.00246 · Cited by 1,200 · see citing works
- Authors
- Weatherburn, C. J., Guthrie, B., Mercer, S. W., & Morales, D. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Dundee (GB)
- University of Glasgow (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Morales, D. R.
- Venue
- Clinical & Experimental Allergy
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-07-28
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1246-1252
- ISSN
- 0954-7894 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2222
- OpenAlex
- W2725633324
- Cited by
- 68
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 6.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Clinical & Experimental Allergy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office Applied Research Programme (07/01)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Asthma and respiratory diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Chronic Disease Management Strategies
- Keywords
- asthma, comorbidities, adults, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression, anxiety, chronic rhinosinusitis, dyspepsia, bronchiectasis, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, somatic comorbidity, psychiatric comorbidity, prevalence, smoking, social deprivation, primary care records, Scotland, quality of life, health disparities
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Asthma, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Population Surveillance, Registries, Scotland, Comorbidity, Prevalence, Odds Ratio, Young Adult
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