RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS IN URBAN HISPANIC AND NON-HISPANIC WHITE WOMEN

The prevalence and predictors of wheeze syndromes, including asthma, w ere examined among 475 non-Hipanic (NH) white and 371 Hispanic pregnan t women enrolled in a population-based study in East Boston, Massachus etts. Respiratory symptoms and risk factors were ascertained by questi onnaire early in pregnancy. Hispanic and NH white women were of simila r age (mean +/- SD, 26 +/- 5 yr), but Hispanics reported less schoolin g (30 versus 50% completed high school), a lower frequency of househol d pets (4 versus 47%), and a lower frequency of parental asthma (6 ver sus 12%). Hispanics smoked significantly less than NH whites did, both in prevalence (8 versus 50%) and number of cigarettes per day among c urrent smokers (12 +/- 9 versus 22 +/- 10; p < 0.0001). Hispanics repo rted a lower frequency than NH whites did of doctor-diagnosed asthma ( 6 versus 12%), persistent wheeze (5 versus 19%), and either persistent wheeze or asthma (11 versus 30%). In multivariate analysis, active ci garette smoking and parental history of asthma were associated most st rongly with wheeze syndromes. When these two factors as well as educat ional level, presence of household pets, and height(2)-adjusted FEV(1) were controlled, Hispanics remained at lower risk of asthma (odds rat io [OR] 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.37-1.37) and persistent wheeze (OR 0.48; 95% CI, 0.25-0.95) than NH whites. These results sugg est that chronic wheeze syndromes are common among young urban women a nd are associated with both active smoking and a parental history of a sthma. Hispanic women from Central and South America living in urban e nvironments in the United States may be at less risk for these conditi ons than NH white women, in contrast to those from Puerto Rico.