Introduction: Asthma affects the children, young, as well as elderly populations. Psychosocial factors have been extensively studied in children and younger asthmatics. They can have a significant impact in the elderly also, as they can interfere with the clinical presentation and management.

Aims: Young and elderly asthmatics were compared to see if there were differences with regard to the psychosocial profile.

Materials and Methods: One hundred patients of bronchial asthma attending the Department of Tuberculosis and Chest diseases, Government Medical College, Patiala, India, were studied. Patients were divided into 2 groups: Group A: 50 elderly patients ≥65 years old and Group B:50 young patients <40 years age. Both groups were compared with regards to age, sex, marital status, rural/urban background, presence/absence of any confidante, and frequency of contact with the confidante, presence of depressive symptoms, impairment of social functioning, presence of emotional problems and impairment of quality of life. The data was tabulated and statistically analyzed.

Results: Both groups were matched for sex and rural/urban background. More of elderly patients were single because of the death of the spouse than the young (p=0.0001).

80% of elderly and 96% of young asthmatics had a confidante and the differences were statistically significant. When the frequency of contact with the confidante was compared, results were found to be statistically significant with respect to daily (p=0.002), monthly (p=0.007) and no contact (p=0.0021). The differences with respect to presence of depressive symptoms, impairment of social functioning, presence of emotional problems and impairment of quality of life were also found to be statistically significant, with more of the elderly asthmatics being affected. (p value being 0.001. 0.001, 0.0234 and 0.001 respectively)

Conclusion: There is significant difference between elderly and young asthmatics with regards to presence of confidante, frequency of contact with him/her and various psychological parameters. The presence of a confidante and a regular contact with him/her can have a positive impact on the management of asthma.

Keywords: Asthma, elderly, young, psychosocial profile.

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Dr Kranti Garg

Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, D block, Level 5,

Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector-32, Chandigarh, India

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