Vw. Persky et al., RELATIONSHIPS OF RACE AND SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS WITH PREVALENCE, SEVERITY, AND SYMPTOMS OF ASTHMA IN CHICAGO SCHOOL-CHILDREN, Annals of allergy, asthma, & immunology, 81(3), 1998, pp. 266-271
Background: Asthma mortality rates in Chicago are among the highest in
the United States, with substantially greater rates in poor and minor
ity populations. How much of the differential can be attributed to dif
ferences in prevalence versus severity or access to care has not been
determined. Objective: To examine rates of asthma prevalence, severity
, and symptoms and to explore the relationships of these rates to race
and socioeconomic status in a random sample of Chicago school childre
n. Methods: Self-administered survey. Results: Overall, rates of asthm
a were higher than previously reported, with 16% of students in the st
ratified cluster random sample of 3,670 children in the 7th and 8th gr
ades having had asthma. Prevalence rates were significantly higher in
schools with >98% African Americans than in other schools, with the hi
ghest prevalence rates seen in African American schools in low income
neighborhoods. Rates were associated with the percent of African Ameri
can children in the school and with median income of the school's cens
us tract. Relationships were most consistent with indices of more seve
re disease. Conclusions: Asthma prevalence is higher than previously n
oted, with rates greatest in minority and low income populations. Diff
erences are more striking for measures of severity than for symptoms o
f wheezing, but are far less than previously reported differences in m
ortality, suggesting that additional factors, such as differential acc
ess to continuous health care, may be affecting high death rates from
asthma in Chicago.