Reaching beyond disparity: safely improving asthma control in the at-risk African-American population.
In the United States, substantial racial disparities exist in asthma prevalence, etiology, morbidity and mortality, particularly between African Americans and white Americans. African-American patients with asthma have inadequate access to appropriate healthcare, insufficient asthma management guidance from their physicians and poor adherence to asthma medications-all factors that may contribute to disproportionate morbidity. Historically, African Americans have been under-represented in clinical asthma studies, and a paucity of data exists surrounding asthma treatment response. One controversial study from 2006 suggests an increased safety risk with the use of long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonists (LABAs) in African Americans. More recently, several studies have evaluated the use of LABAs in combination with an ICS in African-American populations. This article reviews the existing data on asthma treatment outcomes, with particular emphasis on the recently published short- and long-term studies of ICS/LABA products conducted in African-American populations with moderate-to-severe asthma. Overall, evidence suggests that if African-American patients with asthma are provided with access to well-trained physicians, appropriate asthma management and effective medications, existing disparities in asthma control between African-American and white populations may be overcome.
Center for Managing Chronic Disease, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 2790 SPH I, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2029, USA. docrbrown@gmail.com
Randall W
RW
Brown
Christy S
CS
Cappelletti
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D001741:Black or African American; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents