Overcoming childhood asthma disparities of the inner-city poor

Abstract

Asthmatic children living in low-income families in United States inner city communities continue to have disproportionately high rates of hospitalizations, emergency department visits, disability, and death. Current research implicates a combination of environmental, biologic, and disease mismanagement factors that underlie these poor outcomes. Multifaceted studies are underway to better understand this inner-city path to severe asthma. Efforts to optimize interventions, to implement them broadly, and to sustain them are also underway on local and national levels. It is hoped that these efforts will limit the severe consequences of asthma, narrow disparities in outcomes, and substantially reduce medical expenditures for asthma.