Page 68 - Comprehensive treatment of patients with glucocorticoid-dependent severe asthma

Chapter 3
psychosocial interventions have been observed [43;44], but more prospective studies are needed in this category of patients to see if better asthma control or less oral corticosteroid-dependency can be obtained on the long term.
In conclusion, we found significantly more anxiety and depression symptoms in patients with severe prednisone-dependent asthma as compared to patients with non-steroid dependent severe asthma or mild-moderate asthma. Patients with prednisone dependent asthma are 3.5 times more likely to have significant symptoms of depression and 2 times more likely to have significant symptoms of anxiety than their non-steroid dependent counterparts. Therefore, these patients deserve to be screened for depression and anxiety, and offered psychiatric or psychosocial care if needed. Hopefully, such interventions will lead to better control of the disease and less need for oral corticosteroids.
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