The effects of race/ethnicity and income on early childhood asthma prevalence and health care use.
OBJECTIVE
Asthma is the most common chronic illness among US children and is most prevalent in low-income and minority groups. We used multivariate models to disentangle the effects of race/ethnicity, income, and other individual-level risk factors on asthma in a population-based sample of children aged 3 years.


METHODS
Data are from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey and 1991 Longitudinal Follow-Up. Odds ratios of asthma prevalence, hospitalization, and emergency room use were estimated, with control for socioeconomic characteristics, health behaviors, and insurance.


RESULTS
Asthma prevalence, hospitalization, and emergency room use declined with increasing income for non-Black but not Black children.


CONCLUSIONS
Lifetime income and sociodemographic characteristics do not explain the excess risks of asthma and emergency health care use for asthma among young Black children.
Miller
J E
JE
Institute for Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-5070, USA. jem@rci.rutgers.edu
D001249:Asthma / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006295:Health Resources / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology