Are Children with Developmental Disabilities at Higher Risk for Asthma?

Children with developmental disabilities, for example, cerebral palsy, are thought to have a higher risk of asthma or other breathing-related issues. However, we lack information about the degree of risk associated with specific types of disability.

In this cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2016–2017 National Survey of Children's Health, the authors compared the prevalence of asthma between children with developmental disabilities and children with typical development. The presence of disability and the diagnosis of asthma were identified based on parent responses to condition-specific survey items. Five major disability categories were included: behavioral, cognitive, communication, developmental, and motor.

Among 71,811 participants…