The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #53960

Doug Brugge, PhD, MS¹, Ted Lee, MD, MPH², Charlene Francis, RN³, and Opal Fisher, RN, MEd³. (1) Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111, (617) 636-0326, dbrugge@aol.com, (2) Family Practice Residency Program, West Suburban Hospital, 7411 West Lake Street, Suite 1100, River Forest, IL 60305, (3) Josiah Quincy Elementary School, 885 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111

While asthma has been studied in many inner-city populations in the US, there have been no studies specifically on Asian immigrant populations. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of the prevalence of asthma among schoolchildren at the Josiah Quincy Elementary School, located in Boston’s Chinatown. Roughly 62% of the students in the school are Asian American. We utilized the Brief Asthma Pediatric Screen, a five-question instrument that was validated through the Chicago public schools [Wolf, 1999 #5]. The survey was administered to grades K-5. Of the 606 respondents (70% of the students), 16% had previously diagnosed asthma and 3% had possible undiagnosed asthma. Asthma was more prevalent in boys than in girls (RR 1.75, 95% CI 1.20 - 2.56). In addition, the respondents who lived in Chinatown were less likely to have been diagnosed with asthma (RR 0.59, 95% CI 0.39 - 0.90), as were those with Asian surnames (RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.44 - 0.97). Although this study was preliminary, our results suggest that Asthma rates are substantial among inner-city Asian Immigrant children, but possibly lower than for other inner-city children.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to describe the rates of asthma measured for Asian American children and compare those rates to rates for other populations.
• The participants will be able to discuss the hypotheses that Asian American immigrants develop higher rates of asthma after immigration to the US.
• The participanants will be able to identify needed future areas of research.

Keywords: Asthma, Asian Americans

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.