RACE, ASTHMA, AND PERSISTENT WHEEZE IN PHILADELPHIA SCHOOLCHILDREN

Objectives. Many studies show asthma to be more common in Black than i n White children. This study assessed how much of this difference rema ins after adjustment for other potentially race-associated predictors of asthma. Methods. We assessed the predictors of active diagnosed ast hma and persistent wheeze in 1416 Black and White Philadelphia childre n aged 9 to 11 years, as reported by parents. Results. Black race rema ined a significant predictor of active diagnosed asthma (odds ratio [O R] = 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3, 4.1) but not of persiste nt wheeze (OR = 1.0; 95% CT = 0.6, 1.8). The excess risk of asthma in Black children was not appreciably altered by adjustment for other dem ographic and environmental factors. Conclusions. Black race is an impo rtant risk factor for active diagnosed asthma in these urban children, a relationship not explained by social factors. This finding acid the lack of an association of race with persistent wheeze after adjustmen t for social factors suggest that race may be more important to the ac quisition of an asthma diagnosis than to the prevalence of the symptom s.