Abstract
Background
Social determinants of health (SDH) influence emergency department (ED) use among children with asthma. We aimed to examine if SDH were more strongly associated with ED use among children with moderate/severe compared to mild asthma.
Methods
This study utilized the 2016–2019 data from the National Survey of Children’s Health. Children with asthma ages 0–17 years (N = 9937) were included in the analysis. Asthma severity and all-cause ED use in the past year were reported by caregivers. The association between patient factors and ED visits was evaluated using ordinal logistic regression.
Results
Based on the study sample, 29% of children with asthma had moderate/severe asthma. In the mild group, 30% visited the ED at least once in the past 12 months, compared to 49% in the moderate/severe group. SDH associated with ED visits included race/ethnicity, insurance coverage, and parental educational attainment, but the strength of these associations did not vary according to asthma severity.
Conclusions
In a nationally representative data set, SDH were equally predictive of ED use regardless of children’s asthma severity. Interventions to reduce ED use among children with asthma should be considered for children with any severity of asthma, especially children in socially disadvantaged groups at higher risk of ED utilization.
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Change history
08 April 2022
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-022-00534-1
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Kamel Alachraf, Caroline Currie, Dmitry Tumin, and William Wooten. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Kamel Alachraf and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Alachraf, K., Currie, C., Wooten, W. et al. Social Determinants of Emergency Department Visits in Mild Compared to Moderate and Severe Asthma. Lung 200, 221–226 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-022-00524-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-022-00524-3