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Parental numeracy and asthma exacerbations in Puerto Rican children

Christian Rosas-Salazar1, Sima K Ramratnam1, John M Brehm1

  • 1Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine, Allergy, and Immunology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

Chest
|March 16, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Low parental numeracy, a health literacy skill, is linked to worse asthma outcomes in Puerto Rican children. This includes more emergency room visits and hospitalizations, highlighting a need for targeted interventions.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Health Literacy Research
  • Health Disparities

Background:

  • Puerto Rican children experience a high burden of childhood asthma in the U.S.
  • The impact of parental numeracy on asthma morbidity in this population is understudied.
  • This study addresses the association between low parental numeracy and asthma outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between low parental numeracy and asthma morbidity in Puerto Rican children.
  • To determine if limited health literacy skills in parents correlate with poorer asthma control in their children.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study of 351 asthmatic children (6-14 years) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  • Parents completed a modified Asthma Numeracy Questionnaire.
  • Multivariate regression analyzed the association between low numeracy and asthma morbidity indicators, adjusting for covariates.

Main Results:

  • Low parental numeracy was associated with increased odds of emergency department or urgent care visits for asthma (aOR=1.7).
  • A significant association was found between low parental numeracy and asthma hospitalizations among children not using inhaled corticosteroids (aOR=2.8).
  • No association was observed with systemic steroid use or lung function measures.

Conclusions:

  • Low parental numeracy is significantly associated with increased asthma morbidity in Puerto Rican children.
  • Findings suggest health literacy interventions may be crucial for improving asthma management in this demographic.
  • Addressing parental numeracy could be a key strategy in reducing childhood asthma disparities.
Abstract

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