Background Bronchial asthma is a major public health problem, with an estimated 300 million affected individuals, with increasing prevalence, especially in the pediatric population. Most countries continue to experience a suboptimal level of bronchial asthma control, which requires ongoing optimization of therapeutic strategies as well as improving the nonpharmacological approach. Many asthmatic patients reports high levels of stress and depression. It is known that psychological stress decreases therapeutic adherence and affects the quality of life of children with asthma. The psychological evaluation is important in clinical follow-up, as well as psychological interventions are necessary to complement the pharmacological treatment of bronchial asthma.

The scope of the study was to determine the relationship between stress and evolution of bronchial asthma in children.

Methods There were observed 56 patients with bronchial asthma (10–18 years). The evaluation was included in the questionnaire with complete anamnestic data, clinical features and paraclinical data. The Perceived Stress Scale and Asthma Control Test was used to correlated psychoemotional status and clinical symptoms of asthma.

Results According to Perceive Stress Scale, an average and high health concern level was obtained in 39% (22 children), all of them were uncontrolled according to Asthma Control Test. Also there were described other potential triggers for asthma exacerbations (house dust mites, molds, polen, etc, and viral infections). Sensitization for house dust mites was attests as well in children with controlled asthma and also in children with low health concern levels.

Conclusion Emotions and stress play a significant role in clinical evolution of bronchial asthma in children. This study demonstrated a strong relationship between asthma and stress in pediatric patients. Use of psychological tools and interventions to increase asthma control are needed.