title: Asthma disparities in urban environments.
abstract: Asthma continues to disproportionately affect minority and low-income groups, with African American and Latino children who live in low-socioeconomic-status urban environments experiencing higher asthma morbidity and mortality than white children. This uneven burden in asthma morbidity has been ever increasing despite medical advancement. Many factors have contributed to these disparities in the areas of health care inequities, which result in inadequate treatment; poor housing, which leads to increased exposure to asthma allergens; and social and psychosocial stressors, which are often unappreciated. Interventions to reduce individual areas of disparities have had varying successes. Because asthma is a complex disease that affects millions of persons, multifaceted comprehensive interventions that combine all evidence-based successful strategies are essential to finally closing the gap in asthma morbidity.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Pediatrics, Community Asthma Prevention Program, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. stephenst@email.chop.edu
authors.forename: Tyra
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bryant-Stephens
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000191:economics; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D001249:Asthma / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D006798:Housing / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene / Q000191:economics / Q000193:education; D008913:Minority Groups; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens