HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:
Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password

This Article Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Personal Article Archive Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Higgins, P. S. Articles by Cloutier, M. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Higgins, P. S. Articles by Cloutier, M. M.

Risk Factors for Asthma and Asthma Severity in Nonurban Children in Connecticut^*

^* From the Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut Health Center (Ms. Higgins and Ms. Wakefield), and Asthma Center, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (Dr. Cloutier), Hartford, CT.

Correspondence to: Pamela Sangeloty Higgins, MS, MPH, Asthma Center, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, 282 Washington St, Hartford, CT 06106; e-mail: Higgins{at}nso1.uchc.edu

Study objective: To examine asthma diagnosis, asthma severity, and the presence of established asthma risk factors in children who reside in nonurban communities.

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted of 19,076 children (6 months to 18 years of age) who lived in 146 nonurban communities in the greater Hartford, CT, region and who were enrolled in a disease-management program (Easy Breathing II; Michelle Cloutier, MD; Hartford, CT) designed to improve asthma diagnosis and treatment.

Results: The overall frequency of physician-confirmed asthma in children seeking health care was 18%. Asthma frequency was related to low socioeconomic status (SES), non-Caucasian ethnicity, male gender, age 5 years, and exposure to tobacco smoke, dust, or cockroaches in the multivariate analysis. When controlling for SES, African-American children were 1.33 times more likely (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15 to 1.53) and Hispanic children were 1.60 times as likely (95% CI, 1.38 to 1.85) as Caucasian children to have asthma. In contrast, asthma severity was related to dust exposure, a family history of asthma, non-Caucasian ethnicity, and age 4 years in the multivariate analysis. African-American children (odds ratio, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.67) had more severe asthma diagnosed as compared to Caucasian children. Hispanic ethnicity was not associated with an increase in asthma severity.

Conclusion: Risk factors for asthma in nonurban children are similar to risk factors in urban children. Ethnicity is a risk factor for asthma regardless of SES. Even in nonurban environments, African-American and Hispanic children have more asthma, and African-American children have more severe disease than their Caucasian counterparts.

Key Words: asthma risk factors • asthma severity • pediatric asthma

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. M. Cloutier, D. B. Wakefield, P. Sangeloty-Higgins, S. Delaronde, and C. B. Hall Asthma Guideline Use by Pediatricians in Private Practices and Asthma Morbidity Pediatrics, November 1, 2006; 118(5): 1880 - 1887. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]