Lessons for primary prevention of asthma: foreign-born children have less association of SES and pests with asthma diagnosis.
There are no proven interventions for primary prevention of asthma. As asthma prevalence varies globally, comparing asthma in native and foreign-born children might provide insights. We pooled data from five cross sectional asthma surveys (N = 962). Place of birth was associated with asthma (OR = 3.4, P < 0.001). In children not born in the US, lower socio-economic status had no significant effect on asthma (OR = 0.71, P = 0.53), while for children born in the US, the effect was significant (OR = 2.1, P = 0.001). The odds ratio for exposure to household pests was significant (OR = 1.6, P < 0.008) for children born in the US but was non-significant for children born outside the US (OR = 0.29, P = 0.11). Our findings are consistent with foreign-born children experiencing protective factors or US born children experiencing detrimental environmental exposures.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University School of Engineering, Medford, MA, USA.
Mark
M
Woodin
Alice H
AH
Tin
Sarah
S
Moy
Michele
M
Palella
Doug
D
Brugge
D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010526:Periplaneta; D011322:Primary Prevention; D051381:Rats; D012923:Social Class; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology