A large Korean study has found a 26% increased risk in patients with the respiratory condition.
Patients with asthma have above-average odds of dying by suicide, research suggests.
Korean researchers used National Health Insurance Service data of almost four million adults aged 20 and over.
After a 12-year follow-up, researchers found that the more than 290,000 participants with asthma had a 26% increased risk of suicide compared with more than 3.6 million controls.
“This risk was notably higher in individuals with hospitalisation-prone, non-obese, or ACO [asthma-COPD overlap] phenotype,” the researchers said in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
“The coexistence of asthma with schizophrenia or depression more than triples the risk of death by suicide, and asthma also heightens the risk when coexisting with underweight status, anxiety disorder, or cancer.”
The researchers said there was a significant association between asthma and an increased risk of death by suicide, particularly in participants who were hospitalisation-prone (61% higher), non-obese (37%), and who had asthma and COPD overlap (47%).
The risk was further increased when participants were underweight (254%), had schizophrenia (338%), depression (324%), anxiety (247%) and cancers (222%).
There was also a stronger association between asthma and death by suicide in people aged 65 or older, non-heavy alcohol drinkers, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and the absence of a substance use disorder compared with controls.
The researchers hypothesised that depression may go undiagnosed in people with asthma.
“Although a high prevalence of depression in individuals with asthma is well documented, mental health care often receives insufficient attention in the clinic,” the authors wrote.
Asthma may cause physical deconditioning and increase isolation and dependence, which may contribute to suicide risk, they said.
“The compounded effect of feeling burdensome to caregivers and experiencing loneliness could amplify depressive symptoms, potentially leading to suicidal ideation and attempts.”
The researchers noted that South Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries and is particularly high among elderly people.
“Reflecting this, individuals with asthma in this study were also older than those without asthma, similar to other population-based studies in Korea. Financial difficulties and social isolation likely contribute to these age-related suicide risks.
“In our subgroup analysis, age intensified the association between asthma and suicide, with elderly individuals at heightened risk.”
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 26 November 2024
