Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #115751

Carolina A. Alvarez-Garriga, MD, SCP, Dr PH¹, Antonio A. Rene, PhD, MPH², Raghbir S. Sandhu, MD, DrPH, DTM&H³, Daisha Cipher, MS, PhD⁴, Federico Montealegre, DVM, MS, PhD⁵, Marco Marruffo, MD, SCP, MS, DrPH³, and Manuel Bayona, MD, PhD². (1) Deparment of Epidemiology, University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health, 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76107-2699, 817-735-0593, cgarriga@hsc.unt.edu, (2) Department of Epidemiology, University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health, 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76107, (3) Department of Epidemiology School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107, (4) School of Public Health Department of Biostatistics, University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health, 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76107, (5) Asthma Research Program, Ponce School of Medicine, P.O. Box 7004, Ponce, PR 00732

Childhood asthma is increasing for unclear reasons. The purpose of this study was to assess risk factors by using NHANES 1999-2000 data in children one to six years of age comparing 158 asthmatics with 1,104 non-asthmatics regarding selected factors. The logistic regression adjusted odds ratio was used as a measure of association applying multistage sampling weights. Results indicated that males were 1.9 times more likely to have asthma. Risk increased with age. Mexican Americans were 37% less likely to have asthma while other Hispanics were 2.4 times more likely (p = 0.008). African Americans were 61% more likely to have asthma (p = 0.014). Breastfeed children were found to be 41% less likely to have asthma (p = 0.014) with a clear dose-response relationship with the length of breastfeeding. Starting foods other than milk after four months of age decreased 54% the likelihood of asthma (p = 0.009). Smoking during pregnancy increased 45% the probability of asthma, while quitting decreased it by 54% (p < 0.03). Those that attend day care were 44% more likely to have asthma, and those that did not have newborn care had two times more probability for asthma (p < 0.05). A higher 12.5 per 100 prevalence was found for the United States while the one reported in previous NHANES survey results ranged from five to nine per hundred. These findings indicate that childhood asthma is still increasing, provide information about high risk groups and protective factors that can be used for public health interventions.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Identify the epidemiology of childhood asthma in the United States
• Describe the secular trend of childhood asthma prevalence in the United States over time
• Identify protective factors for childhood asthma

Keywords: Epidemiology, Asthma

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.