Examination of disparities in prehospital encounters for pediatric asthma exacerbations

There are disparities in multiple aspects of pediatric asthma care; however, prehospital care disparities are largely undescribed. This study's objective was to examine racial and geographic disparities in emergency medical services (EMS) medication administration to pediatric patients with asthma.

This is a substudy of the Early Administration of Steroids in the Ambulance Setting: An Observational Design Trial, which includes data from pediatric asthma patients ages 2-18 years. We examined rates of EMS administration of systemic corticosteroids and inhaled bronchodilators by patient race. We geocoded EMS scene addresses, characterized the locations' neighborhood-based conditions and resources relevant to children using the Child Opportunity Index (COI) 2.0, and analyzed associations between EMS scene address COI with medications administered by EMS.

A total of 765 patients had available racial data and 825 had scene addresses that were geocoded to a COI. EMS administered at least 1 bronchodilator to 84.7% (n = 492) of non-White patients and 83.2% of White patients (n = 153), P = 0.6. EMS administered a systemic corticosteroid to 19.4% (n = 113) of non-White patients and 20.1% (n = 37) of White patients, P = 0.8. There was a significant difference in bronchodilator administration between COI categories of low/very low versus moderate/high/very high (85.0%, n = 485 vs. 75.9%, n = 192, respectively, P = 0.003).

There were no racial differences in EMS administration of medications to pediatric asthma patients. However, there were significantly higher rates of EMS bronchodilator administration for encounters in low/very low COIs. That latter finding may reflect inequities in asthma exacerbation severity for patients living in disadvantaged areas.