This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
More children using preventive asthma medication
Kit BK. Pediatrics. 2011;doi:10.1542/peds.2011-1513.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Pediatric use of preventive asthma medications has risen in recent years, but disparities among asthma medication use continue, according to CDC researcher Brian K. Kit, MD, MPH, and colleagues, who published data on asthma medication use among children between 1998 and 2008. The researchers compiled their data on about 2,500 children from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The researchers noted a statistically significant rise in asthma medication usage, from 17.8% in the 1988 to 1994 time period to 34.9% in the 2005 to 2008 time period. They said, however, that Mexican-American children, non-Hispanic blacks and children lacking health insurance less frequently used asthma medications than others.
The researchers said their findings on medication use paralleled Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality findings, which showed in 2003, 2004 and 2005, “28.5%, 32.8%, and 30.6% of children and adolescents aged 0 to 17 years with current asthma used preventive asthma medications.”
They urged future research on “identifying interventions effective in improving delivery of asthma care consisted with asthma treatment guidelines, including preventive asthma medication use and reducing disparities in medication use.”
Disclosure: The CDC supported the study, and the researchers reported no relevant financial disclosures.
 |
Follow the PediatricSuperSite.com on Twitter. |