Prevalence and correlates of paediatric asthma and wheezing in a largely rural USA population.
OBJECTIVE
The prevalence of asthma among children has been increasing in the United States and it is estimated that there are approximately 5 million children with asthma. This cross-sectional survey sought to estimate the prevalence of asthma and asthma symptoms and potential risk factors among children aged 16 and younger, in a largely rural population in the USA.


METHODS
This study was a telephone survey of 1500 households in the South Plains/Panhandle region of Texas. Parents of children were interviewed with a response rate of 64%. Having been diagnosed with asthma by a physician and a report of wheezing in the last 12 months were used as dependent variables in multivariate logistic regressions with several sociodemographic and environmental factors as potential confounders.


RESULTS
The age-adjusted prevalence of asthma and wheezing among children were approximately 15 and 18%, respectively. The prevalence of asthma was highest (20%) among children aged 11-16 (P < 0.001). Living in urban areas was associated significantly with asthma and wheezing. Non-Hispanic blacks reported significantly increased odds of asthma in their children (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.04, 95%CI 1.02-4.08), whereas Mexican-Americans reported significantly reduced odds of asthma (adjusted OR = 0.48, 95%CI 0.29-0.78) and wheezing (adjusted OR = 0.58, 95%CI 0.37-0.89) in their children. The odds of asthma (adjusted OR = 1.78, 95%CI 1.09-2.92) and wheezing (adjusted OR = 2.45, 95%CI 1.52-3.95) was highest among children in the highest body mass index quartile. No significant association with pet ownership and exposure to second-hand smoke with asthma and wheezing was observed in this study.


CONCLUSIONS
Urban residence, non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American race/ethnicity, and being overweight were significantly associated with the increased risk of asthma and/or wheezing.
Department of Family and Community Medicine and Rural and Community Health Center, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas 79430, USA. ahmed.arif@ttuhsc.edu
A A
AA
Arif
T F
TF
Borders
P J
PJ
Patterson
J E
JE
Rohrer
K T
KT
Xu
D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012135:Respiratory Sounds; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology