People with asthma appear to be at increased risk of mental illness and COPD, and those with late-onset disease are at higher risk of multiple comorbidities, research shows.

The investigators included data for more than 3600 people (51% female) enrolled in the population-based Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study, all of whom had entered the study at the age of seven and had data recorded for baseline, ages 13, 45 and 53 years.

Five trajectories for asthma and allergic disease became apparent from the analysis, with three of the trajectories involving asthma — asthma and allergies that were early-onset and persistent, early-onset but remitted, or late-onset, the researchers reported in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Almost half the participants (49%) had neither asthma nor hay fever and were used as a reference group.