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Decrease in asthma prevalence disparity observed among children within different ethnicities

Asthma prevalence among children and disparities within different ethnicities appeared to plateau after increasing for nearly 4 decades, according to recent research published in Pediatrics.

“The results of this study show that these increases did not continue into the next decade,” Lara J. Akinbami, MD, from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues wrote. “Asthma prevalence reached a maximum in 2009 and subsequent patterns through 2013 are difficult to interpret with certainty. Additional years of data are needed to determine whether asthma prevalence has plateaued or will continue to decline.”

Akinbami and colleagues used the 2001-2013 National Health Interview Survey to analyze asthma prevalence among children aged between 0 years and 17 years, according to the abstract. They further analyzed asthma prevalence based on factors such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, geographic region, race and ethnicity.

Between 2001 and 2009, the researchers found a slight increase in childhood asthma, followed by a plateau and then a decrease in 2013. During this period, they found no change in asthma prevalence for Puerto Rican children, non-Hispanic white children and children from the Northwest and West. There was an increase in asthma prevalence for children aged between 10 years and 17 years, children who lived in the South and children who lived below the poverty level. For children between 100% and less than 200% of the poverty level, non-Hispanic black children, and children aged between 5 years and 9 years, there was an increase in the prevalence of asthma followed by a plateau. There was an increase followed by a decrease in prevalence of asthma in children aged 0 years to 4 years, children in the Midwest and Mexican children. Akinbami and colleagues noted that the highest prevalence of asthma was with Puerto Rican children and that the disparity between asthma prevalence in non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white children stopped increasing, according to the abstract. – by Jeff Craven

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.