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Individual, Housing, and Neighborhood Correlates of Asthma among Young Urban Children

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Abstract

Using data from a large cohort of urban children, this study identified multilevel correlates of asthma to determine whether neighborhood attributes remain associated with asthma after adjustment for individual level and immediate housing characteristics. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study and its substudy, the In-Home Longitudinal Study of Pre-Schooled Age Children (n = 1,784). The primary outcome was asthma diagnosis by age 5. Sociodemographic measures were assessed via telephone survey, housing and block conditions recorded via direct observation, and neighborhood characteristics came from geocoded census tract data. After multivariable adjustment, non-Hispanic Black, Puerto Rican, or other Hispanic race, child’s lack of insurance coverage, male gender, presence of allergies, the exterior condition of a child’s home, mother’s educational attainment, and the percent of the neighborhood population with a bachelor’s degree remained significantly associated with having received an asthma diagnosis by age 5. The authors identified sociodemographic and economic factors at the individual, household, and neighborhood level which are correlates of childhood asthma in urban areas. After adjustment for more proximal characteristics, the effects of all neighborhood markers were minimal, with the exception of neighborhood education.

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Abbreviations

FFCW:

Fragile Families and Child Well-being

FPL:

Federal poverty level

IQR:

Interquartile range

LSPAC:

In-Home Longitudinal Study of Pre-Schooled Age Children

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development through grants R01HD36916, R01HD39135, and R01HD40421 as well as a consortium of private foundations for their support of the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study.

Support for Dr. Theall was also provided by the National Institutes of Health, NIH (1R01ES020447-01)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Elizabeth W. Holt & Felicia A. Rabito

  2. Center for Health Research, Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Elizabeth W. Holt

  3. Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Katherine P. Theall

Authors
  1. Elizabeth W. Holt
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  2. Katherine P. Theall
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  3. Felicia A. Rabito
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Correspondence to Elizabeth W. Holt.

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Holt, E.W., Theall, K.P. & Rabito, F.A. Individual, Housing, and Neighborhood Correlates of Asthma among Young Urban Children. J Urban Health 90, 116–129 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-012-9709-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-012-9709-3

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