The Evolving Epidemiology of Asthma Hospitalizations in School-Aged Children

Article Outline

• Rationale
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusion
• Copyright

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Rationale 

Whether gender or racial disparities in asthma outcomes exist in school-age children is not well studied. We thus profiled recent trends in asthma hospitalization for school-age children in New York State from 1991-2005, specifically examining for gender and racial differences.

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Methods 

Using the New York State inpatient database (SPARCS), the asthma admission rates for children aged 5-17 were calculated. The admissions were stratified by age bracket, gender and race.

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Results 

For the study years, 129,064 admissions were identified. Overall, asthma admission rates in school-aged children peaked in the mid 1990's and then declined until 2000, when a plateau was observed. In children aged 5-12 years, the admission rates of males were consistently greater than females (M/F admission rate ratio ∼1.5). In contrast, for 13-17 year olds, the admission rates for males were lower than females, although the M/F admission rate ratio increased in the second millennium. In 1992, the teen M/F admission rate ratio was 0.73 whereas it was 0.98 in 2004. The admission rates for Blacks were consistently higher than non-Black children, with a Black to non-Black admission rate ratio of 1.6 to 3 for all age groups. The racial disparity in asthma hospitalization rates increased in the second millennium especially for children aged 9-17.

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Conclusion 

The recent epidemiology of asthma hospitalization in school-aged children shows differential evolution with respect to gender, race, and age. These findings have public health implications in regards to education, treatment and prevention.