Search

Rationale: Race-based estimates of pulmonary function in children could influence the evaluation of asthma in children from racial and ethnic minoritized backgrounds. Objectives: To determine if race-neutral (Global Lung Function Initiative [GLI]-Global) versus race-specific (GLI-Race-Specific) reference equations differentially impact spirometry evaluation of childhood asthma. Methods: The analysis included 8,719 children aged 5 to <12 years from 27 cohorts across the United States grouped by parent-reported race and ethnicity. We analyzed how the equations affected FEV 1 , FVC, and FEV 1 /FVC z -scores. We used multivariable logistic models to evaluate associations between z -scores calculated with different equations and asthma diagnosis, emergency department visits, and hospitalization. Measurements and Main Results: For Black children, the GLI-Global versus GLI-Race-Specific equations estimated significantly lower z -scores for FEV 1 and FVC but similar values for FEV 1 /FVC, thus increasing the proportion of children classified with low FEV 1 by 14%. Although both equations yielded strong inverse relationships between FEV 1 and FEV 1 /FVC z -scores and asthma outcomes, these relationships varied across racial and ethnic groups ( P  < 0.05). For any given FEV 1 or FEV 1 /FVC z -score, asthma diagnosis and emergency department visits were higher among Black and Hispanic than among White children ( P  < 0.05). For FEV 1 , GLI-Global equations estimated asthma outcomes that were more uniform across racial and ethnic groups. Conclusions: Parent-reported race and ethnicity influenced relationships between lung function and asthma outcomes. Our data show no advantage to race-specific equations for evaluating childhood asthma, and the potential for race-specific equations to obscure lung impairment in disadvantaged children strongly supports using race-neutral equations. more...

Rationale: Identifying the root causes of racial disparities in childhood asthma is critical for health equity. Objectives: To determine whether the racist policy of redlining in the 1930s led to present-day disparities in childhood asthma by increasing community-level poverty and decreasing neighborhood socioeconomic position (SEP). Methods: We categorized census tracts at the birth address of participants from the Children's Respiratory and Environmental Workgroup birth cohort consortium into categories A, B, C, and D as defined by the Home Owners Loan Corporation, with D being the highest perceived risk. Surrogates of present-day neighborhood-level SEP were determined for each tract, including the percentage of low-income households, the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index, and other tract-level variables. We performed causal mediation analysis, which, under the assumption of no unmeasured confounding, estimates the direct and mediated pathways by which redlining may cause asthma disparities through tract-level mediators adjusting for individual-level covariates. Measurements and Main Results: Of 4,849 children, the cumulative incidence of asthma through age 11 was 26.6%, and 13.2% resided in census tracts with a Home Owners Loan Corporation grade of D. In mediation analyses, residing in Grade-D tracts (adjusted odds ratio = 1.03 [95% confidence interval = 1.01, 1.05]) was significantly associated with childhood asthma, with 79% of this increased risk mediated by percentage of low-income households; results were similar for the Social Vulnerability Index and other tract-level variables. Conclusions: The historical structural racist policy of redlining led to present-day asthma disparities in part through decreased neighborhood SEP. Policies aimed at reversing the effects of structural racism should be considered to create more just, equitable, and healthy communities. more...

Background: Despite advances in asthma care, disparities persist. Black patients are disproportionally affected by asthma and also have poorer outcomes compared with white patients., Objective: We sought to determine associations between black and white patients and asthma-related health care use, accounting for complex relationships., Methods: This study was completed as part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Severe Asthma Research Program, a prospective observational cohort. Between November 2012 and February 2015, it enrolled 579 participants 6 years and older with 1 year of observation time and complete data. Inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to balance racial groups with respect to community and family socioeconomic variables and environmental exposure variables. The primary outcome was emergency department (ED) use for asthma. Secondary outcomes included inhaled corticosteroid use, outpatient physician's office visits for asthma, and asthma-related hospitalization., Results: Black patients had greater odds of ED use over 1 year (odds ratio, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.43-3.35) but also differed in the majority (>50%) of baseline variables measured. After statistical balancing of the racial groups, the difference between black and white patients with respect to ED use no longer reached the level of significance. Instead, in secondary analyses black patients were less likely to see an outpatient physician for asthma management (adjusted odds ratio, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.38-0.85)., Conclusions: The disparity in ED use was eliminated after consideration of multiple variables. Social and environmental policies and interventions tailored to black populations with a high burden of asthma are critical to reduction (or elimination) of these disparities., (Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) more...

Background: Although pre-puberty asthma is more prevalent in males, after puberty through middle-age, asthma is more prevalent in females. The surge of sex hormones with puberty might explain this gender switch., Methods: To examine the effects of sex hormones on lung function and symptoms with puberty, Tanner stage was assessed in 187 children 6-18 years of age (59% severe) enrolled in the NIH/NHLBI Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP). The effects of circulating sex hormones (n = 68; testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), estrogen, and progesterone) on lung function and 4 week symptom control (ACQ6) in cross-section were tested by linear regression., Results: From pre-/early to late puberty, lung function did not change significantly but ACQ6 scores improved in males with severe asthma. By contrast females had lower post-BD FEV 1 % and FVC% and worse ACQ6 scores with late puberty assessed by breast development. In males log DHEA-S levels, which increased by Tanner stage, associated positively with pre- and post-BD FEV 1 %, pre-BD FVC %, and negatively (improved) with ACQ6. Patients treated with high-dose inhaled corticosteroids had similar levels of circulating DHEA-S. In females, estradiol levels increased by Tanner stage, and associated negatively with pre-BD FEV 1 % and FVC %., Conclusions: These results support beneficial effects of androgens on lung function and symptom control and weak deleterious effects of estradiol on lung function in children with asthma. Longitudinal data are necessary to confirm these cross-sectional findings and to further elucidate hormonal mechanisms informing sex differences in asthma features with puberty., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT01748175 . more...