A retrospective characterization of African- and European American asthmatic children in a pediatric critical care unit.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if African American and European American children with asthma admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) had different characteristics, we conducted a retrospective chart review of asthma admissions to the region's only pediatric ICU.


METHODS
A chart review was performed on 125 patients with asthma admitted to the pediatric critical care unit at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. Descriptive statistics, clinical characteristics, and disparities in care were compared using either Fisher's exact tests or Wilcoxon ranksum tests.


RESULTS
Most of the children reported previous admissions to a pediatric ICU (63%) or a hospital (82%) for asthma. Despite this, only 48% of the children were taking inhaled corticosteroids before admission. Only 28% of the children reported being followed by an asthma specialist, but, of these, 97% were taking corticosteroids. There were no racial/ethnic disparities in medication use, treatment, or outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
We found no racial/ethnic disparities in inpatient/outpatient medication usage, treatment, or outcomes between African American and European American children in our cohort. Recurrent admissions to the ICU among children with severe asthma are common, and inhaled corticosteroids usage is relatively low. Asthmatic children with ICU admissions should be followed and treated aggressively by an asthma specialist.
Files
Daniel Clark
DC
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Patel
Neal
N
Gebretsadik
Tebeb
T
Moore
Paul E
PE
Sheller
James
J
D001741:Black or African American; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology*; D002648:Child; D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D044465:White People