title: Behavior problems and prevalence of asthma symptoms among Brazilian children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood and has been designated a public health problem due to the increase in its prevalence in recent decades, the amount of health service expenditure it absorbs and an absence of consensus about its etiology. The relationships among psychosocial factors and the occurrence, symptomatology, and severity of asthma have recently been considered. There is still controversy about the association between asthma and a child's mental health, since the pathways through which this relationship is established are complex and not well researched. This study aims to investigate whether behavior problems are associated with the prevalence of asthma symptoms in a large urban center in Latin America.
  
  
  METHODS
  It is a cross-section study of 869 children between 6 and 12 years old, residents of Salvador, Brazil. The International Study of Allergy and Asthma in Childhood (ISAAC) instrument was used to evaluate prevalence of asthma symptoms. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was employed to evaluate behavioral problems.
  
  
  RESULTS
  19.26% (n=212) of the children presented symptoms of asthma. 35% were classified as having clinical behavioral problems. Poisson's robust regression model demonstrated a statistically significant association between the presence of behavioral problems and asthma symptoms occurrence (PR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.10-1.85).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest an association between behavioral problems and pediatric asthma, and support the inclusion of mental health care in the provision of services for asthma morbidity.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Collective Health, Federal University of Bahia Salvador, Brazil. feitosacaroline@gmail.com
authors.forename: Caroline A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Feitosa
authors.forename: Darci N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Maria B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Barreto do Carmo
authors.forename: Letícia M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Carlos A S
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Teles
authors.forename: Laura C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Mauricio L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Barreto
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000523:psychology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D015995:Prevalence