Antidepressant treatment of caregivers of children with asthma

Background: Depression is common in caregivers of children with asthma and is associated with increased emergency service utilization for the child's asthma. Objective: This pilot study examined the impact of antidepressant treatment of depressed caregivers on the caregiver's depression and the child's asthma. Method: Eight depressed caregivers of children with asthma were given up to 6 months of algorithm-based antidepressant therapy. Results: Caregiver depressive symptoms and the child's asthma symptoms improved significantly. Conclusion: Unscheduled clinic visits showed a trend toward significant decrease. Larger trials are needed to confirm these findings and identify mechanisms linking improvement in caregiver depression with improvement in their child's asthma. (Psychosomatics 2008; 49:420-425)