Abstract:
Acute exacerbation in asthmatic patients can cause uncertainty in illness and depression.
This research was a descriptive study aimed at examining the predictive power of predictor variables
(perceived severity, social support and uncertainty in illness) on the depression of adults with asthma by
using the Uncertainty Theory (Mishel, 1980) as the conceptual framework of the study. The samples
comprised 85 asthmatic patients with no respiratory complications who attended the Out-Patient
Department of the Chest Disease Institute in the province of Nonthaburi from April to May of 2009.
Data collection was conducted by inquiry about patients personal information and history of illness, the
asthma severity assessment questionnaire, the Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the
Mishel Uncertainty Inventory Scale, and the Center of Epidemiology Depression Scale. The data
obtained were then analyzed using descriptive statistics determine percentage, mean, standard deviation,
Pearsons Correlation, and Multiple Linear Regression.
The findings of this study indicate that the majority of the subjects had no depression
(89.6%) (Mean =5.04, S.D. = 5.36). Furthermore, a non significant relationship was found between
perceived severity and uncertainty in illness (r = .177, p > 0.05), while a non significant relationship
was found between social support and uncertainty in illness (r= -.175, p > 0.05) and a significant
positive relationship was found between uncertainty in illness and depression among adults with asthma
(r=.404, p<.05). Lastly, Stepwise Multiple Linear Regression found that uncertainty in illness was able
to predict the depression of adults with asthma in approximately 16.3 percent of the samples at p <.05
(R2=.163).
The research findings suggest that uncertainty in illness should be assessed in order to
provide proper nursing care with the provision of suitable information about self-care to decrease
uncertainty in illness and reduce depression in asthmatic patients