Caregiver Characteristics Associated with Asthma Morbidity in Inner City African American Children

Background: Inner city children are at greater risk of asthma and its severe outcomes that may lead to ED visits and hospitalizations. There are disparity effects of asthma on African American inner city children due to their environment which consists of irritant exposures such as environmental tobacco smoke, and inadequate health education. Objective: To determine the association of caregiver characteristics with asthma morbidity in inner city children. Methods: A secondary data analysis of 162 primarily African American children (96%) aged 3 to 10 years with physician diagnosed asthma were enrolled in the Pediatric Asthma Alert Leader feedback intervention study. Most caregivers were women (95%) and 61% of the children in the study were males. Data was obtained during face to face interviews with caregivers of children with asthma. Logistic regression models were used to establish associations among the variables of interest. Results: Sixty one percent of the caregivers interviewed were smokers and over half (61%) reported having low income. Children who had a caregiver report being a smoker were more likely to have increased daytime asthma symptoms. Children of younger caregivers were more likely to visit the ED (OR: 0.81, 95% CI 0.68-0.96). Children of caregivers who were highly stressed were found to be at risk for receiving ED treatment (OR: 3.13 95%: 0.68-14.37) Conclusion: Caregiver stress, smoking, age and income were found to be associated with increased asthma morbidity in inner city African American children.