Improving Asthma Outcomes in Black and Hispanic Children

Children with asthma who are from racial and ethnic minority groups have higher morbidity and mortality rates than do white children with asthma, and black and Hispanic children use preventive asthma medications less frequently than do white children. To determine whether these disparities reflect parents’ perceptions of asthma, investigators conducted a cross-sectional study that involved 30-minute standardized telephone interviews with parents of 739 school-age children with persistent asthma (43% white, 24% black, 21% Hispanic, 12% other). Persistent asthma was defined as four or more prescriptions for β₂-agonists, two or more prescriptions for oral corticosteroids, or two or more hospitalizations or emergency-room visits during the prev…