Characteristics of inner-city children with asthma: The National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study

Meyer Kattan, Herman Mitchell, Peyton Eggleston, Peter Gergen, Ellen Crain, Susan Redline, Kevin Weiss, Richard Evans, Richard Kaslow, Carolyn Kercsmar, Fred Leickly, Floyd Malveaux, H. James Wedner, Ernestine Smartt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

306 Scopus citations

Abstract

Asthma morbidity has increased dramatically in the past decade, especially among poor and minority children in the inner cities. The National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study (NCICAS) is a multicenter study designed to determine factors that contribute to asthma morbidity in children in the inner cities. A total of 1,528 children with asthma, ages 4 to 9 years old, were enrolled in a broad-based epidemiologic investigation of factors which were thought to be related to asthma morbidity. Baseline assessment included morbidity, allergy evaluation, adherence and access to care, home visits, and pulmonary function. Interval assessments were conducted at 3, 6, and 9 months after the baseline evaluations. Over the one-year period, 83% of the children had no hospitalizations and 3.6% had two or more. The children averaged 3 to 3.5 days of wheeze for each of the four two-week recall periods. The pattern of skin test sensitivity differed from other populations in that positive reactions to cockroach were higher (35%) and positive reactions to house dust mite were lower (31%). Caretakers reported smoking in 39% of households of children with asthma, and cotinine/creatinine ratios exceeded 30 ng/mg in 48% of the sample. High exposure (>40 ppb) to nitrogen dioxide was found in 24% of homes. Although the majority of children had insurance coverage, 53% of study participants found it difficult to get follow-up asthma care. The data demonstrate that symptoms are frequent but do not result in hospitalization in the majority of children. These data indicate a number of areas which are potential contributors to the asthma morbidity in this population, such as environmental factors, lack of access to care, and adherence to treatment. Interventions to reduce asthma morbidity are more likely to be successful if they address then many different asthma risks found in the inner cities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)253-262
Number of pages10
JournalPediatric pulmonology
Volume24
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1997
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Asthma
  • Children
  • Inner-city

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
  • Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine

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