Eliminating asthma disparities: is there evidence of progress?
OBJECTIVE
In spite of numerous efforts, asthma rates in the United States remain historically high and disparities persist among low-income and minority populations. This review assesses the current status of asthma inequities from the perspective of disease development, progression, and outcomes.


RESULTS
Recent findings highlight the complex and multifactorial nature of asthma. There is a clear line of emerging evidence suggestive of important hierarchical relationships between the predisposed or affected individual and his or her intrapersonal life, familial relationships, social networks, and broader community.


CONCLUSIONS
Approaches in basic, clinical, and translational asthma research must be modified to account for the social construct of race and to detangle complex interactions of contributing factors at and across the individual and community level. However, there are a number of obvious opportunities to dramatically reduce asthma disparities at hand.
Gupta
Ruchi S
RS
Institute for Healthcare Studies, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, USA. rugupta@childrensmemorial.org
Springston
Elizabeth E
EE
Weiss
Kevin B
KB
D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011584:Psychology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology