Changing Trends in Asthma Prevalence Among Children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric respiratory health
• Epidemiology of asthma
• Public health trends

Background:

• Childhood asthma prevalence doubled between 1980 and 1995.
• From 2001 to 2010, asthma prevalence increased more slowly, with widening racial disparities.
• Recent trends in childhood asthma prevalence and associated disparities require updated analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe recent trends in childhood asthma prevalence from 2001 to 2013.
• To analyze changes in asthma prevalence across various demographic subgroups.
• To assess trends in racial disparities in childhood asthma.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of National Health Interview Survey data (2001-2013) for children aged 0-17.
• Utilized logistic regression with quadratic terms to identify nonlinear trends.
• Employed multivariate models to control for demographic factors like age, poverty, race/ethnicity, urbanicity, and region.

Main Results:

• Overall childhood asthma prevalence increased until 2009, then plateaued and declined by 2013.
• Prevalence remained stable for non-Hispanic white and Puerto Rican children, and in the Northeast/West regions.
• Increasing trends were observed in older children (10-17), poorer children, and those in the South; trends varied by age and socioeconomic status for other groups.
• The widening gap in asthma prevalence between non-Hispanic black and white children stopped increasing.

Conclusions:

• Childhood asthma prevalence has ceased its upward trend in recent years.
• The non-Hispanic black-white asthma disparity has stabilized, primarily due to a plateau in prevalence among non-Hispanic black children.
• Puerto Rican children continue to exhibit the highest asthma prevalence.