title: Asthma prevalence among American Indian and Alaska Native children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness in the United States, little is known about its prevalence among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children. The authors used the latest available household survey data to estimate the prevalence of asthma in this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors analyzed data for children ages 1 through 17 years from the 1987 Survey of American Indians and Alaska Natives (SAIAN) and the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES). At least one member of each AI/AN household included in the SAIAN was eligible for services through the Indian Health Service.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The weighted prevalence of parent-reported asthma was 7.06% among 2288 AI/AN children ages 1-17 (95% CI 5.08, 9.04), compared with a US estimate of 8.40% for children ages 1-17 based on the 1987 NMES (95% CI 7.65, 9.15). The AI/AN sample was too small to yield stable estimates for a comparison between AI/AN children and all US children when the data were stratified according to household income and metropolitan vs non-metropolitan residence. The unadjusted asthma prevalence rates were similar for AI/AN children and for children in the NMES sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In 1987, the prevalence of parent-reported asthma was similar for AI/AN children in the SAIAN sample and for children in the NMES sample. More recent data are needed to better understand the current prevalence of asthma among AI/AN children.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, USA. jstout@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Stout
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Grossman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000413:Alaska / Q000453:epidemiology; D001249:Asthma / Q000208:ethnology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007198:Indians, North American; D007223:Infant; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology