Does low birth weight help to explain the increased prevalence of asthma among African-Americans?
BACKGROUND
Racial disparities in asthma prevalence are not fully explained. Previous studies have reported an association between low birth weight (LBW) and asthma. African-Americans are at a heightened risk for both conditions.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this analysis was to study a sample of suburban schoolchildren to determine if increased asthma prevalence in African-Americans could be explained by report of LBW.


METHODS
Logistic regression was used to analyze telephone survey and clinical data for a sample of 126 children, aged 6 to 8 years.


RESULTS
African-Americans reported asthma (12.5% vs 5.3%) and LBW (16.6% vs 3.9%) more frequently than non-African-Americans. After adjusting for LBW, the odds ratio for the association of African-American race to asthma was reduced from 2.6 to 1.8, whereas LBW remained independently associated with asthma, adjusted odds ratio = 5.1 (95% CI:1.4 to 18.9). The adjusted population risk for asthma due to LBW was 0.31.


CONCLUSIONS
High rates of LBW for African-Americans may contribute to racial disparities in asthma prevalence.
Joseph
Christine L M
CL
Henry Ford Health System, Department of Biostatistics & Research Epidemiology, Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA. cjoseph1@hfhs.org
Ownby
Dennis R
DR
Peterson
Edward L
EL
Johnson
Christine C
CC
D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D001741:Black or African American