The feeling of loneliness and the sense of meaning in life in patients with various levels of bronchial asthma control

Abstract

Background: Previously our team has proved bronchial asthma to be associated with a higher incidence of depression than in the healthy population, and that the severity of depression correlates with the severity of asthma symptoms. However, both, the sense of loneliness and the sense of the meaning of life have been little explored by research in the context of this disease so far. Objective: To compare loneliness and meaning of life among asthmatic patients with healthy individuals and assess the relationship of those constructs to the degree of asthma control. Methods: The level of asthma control was assessed according to the Asthma Control Test (ACT), the feeling of loneliness to the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS), and the sense of life to Life Attitude Profile – Revised (LAP-R). Scores were compared between healthy adults and asthma patients and related to asthma control. All models were adjusted for sex and age. Results: The DJGLS score was higher among patients with asthma compared to healthy adults. All the scores measured by LAP-R except for the Existential Vacuum were higher in controls. Loneliness measured by DJGLS was negatively correlated with the degree of asthma control. Choice/Responsibleness was positively, while the Personal Meaning Index score negatively correlated with the ACT score. In the models including LAP-R and DJGLS, only loneliness was associated with asthma control. Conclusion: Loneliness is significantly related to both the development of asthma and the degree of asthma control.