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Published on: August 7, 2017

Prematurity as a predictor of childhood asthma among low-income children

Kevin J Dombkowski1, Sonia W Leung, James G Gurney

  • 1Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit, Division of General Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-0456, USA. kjd@med.umich.edu

Annals of Epidemiology
|February 23, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Children born very preterm face increased asthma risk, regardless of race. While Black children have higher overall asthma rates, prematurity and small-for-gestational-age status explain these differences.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Asthma Research
  • Perinatal Health Outcomes
  • Health Disparities in Children

Background:

  • Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease in childhood.
  • Birth weight and prematurity are potential risk factors for childhood asthma.
  • Racial disparities in asthma prevalence exist, necessitating further investigation into contributing factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the association between birth weight, prematurity, and childhood asthma prevalence.
  • To determine if this association differs between Black and White children.
  • To investigate the role of prematurity and size-for-gestational-age in racial disparities in asthma.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of Michigan Medicaid claims data (2001-2003) for 150,204 children aged 5-18 years.
  • Asthma cases identified using persistent asthma criteria, including inpatient, emergency department, medication, and outpatient visit data.
  • Matching birth certificate data (birth weight, gestational age) with Medicaid files to assess size-for-gestational-age.

Main Results:

  • Overall persistent asthma prevalence was 8.3%; Black children had slightly higher prevalence (8.6%) than White children (7.8%).
  • Children born very preterm (
  • No significant racial differences in asthma odds were found for very preterm, preterm, or small-for-gestational-age infants.

Conclusions:

  • Very preterm birth is an independent risk factor for increased childhood asthma risk across all races.
  • Observed higher asthma prevalence in Black children was largely explained by prematurity and small-for-gestational-age status.
  • These findings highlight the critical role of perinatal factors in understanding asthma disparities.
Abstract

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