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. 2023 Jun;130(6):791-796.e2.
doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2023.03.004. Epub 2023 Mar 8.

Low parental numeracy and severe asthma exacerbations in a prospective study of Puerto Rican youth

Amanda Gutwein  1 , Yueh-Ying Han  1 , Angel Colón-Semidey  2 , Maria Alvarez  2 , Edna Acosta-Pérez  2 , Erick Forno  1 , Glorisa Canino  2 , Andrea Apter  3 , Juan C Celedón  4
Affiliations

Low parental numeracy and severe asthma exacerbations in a prospective study of Puerto Rican youth

Amanda Gutwein et al. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Numeracy is the mathematical knowledge required to understand and act on instructions from health care providers. Whether persistently low parental numeracy is linked to childhood asthma exacerbations is unknown.

Objective: To evaluate whether low parental numeracy at 2 time points is associated with asthma exacerbations and worse lung function in Puerto Rican youth.

Methods: Prospective study of 225 youth with asthma in San Juan (PR) who participated in 2 visits approximately 5.3 years apart, with the first at ages 6 to 14 years and the second at ages 9 to 20 years. Parental numeracy was assessed with a modified version of the Asthma Numeracy Questionnaire (score range = 0-3 points), and persistently low parental numeracy was defined as a score less than or equal to 1 point at both visits. Asthma exacerbation outcomes included more than or equal to 1 emergency department (ED) visit, more than or equal to 1 hospitalization, and more than or equal to 1 severe exacerbation (≥1 ED visit or ≥1 hospitalization) for asthma in the year before the second visit. Spirometry was conducted using an EasyOne spirometer (NDD Medical Technologies, Andover, Massachusetts).

Results: In an analysis adjusting for age, sex, parental education, use of inhaled corticosteroids, and the time between study visits, persistently low parental numeracy was associated with more than or equal to 1 ED visit for asthma (odds ratio [ORs], 2.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-4.26), more than or equal to 1 hospitalization for asthma (OR, 3.92; 95% CI, 1.42-10.84), and more than or equal to 1 severe asthma exacerbation (OR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.01-3.87) in the year before the follow-up visit. Persistently low parental numeracy was not significantly associated with change in lung function measures.

Conclusion: Persistently low parental numeracy is associated with asthma exacerbation outcomes in Puerto Rican youth.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: Dr. Celedón received research materials from Merck (inhaled steroids) to provide medications free of cost to participants in an NIH-funded study, unrelated to this work. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Percentage of number of correct responses in the modified Asthma Numeracy Questionnaire administered to parents of 406 Puerto Rican youth at the two study visits in PROPRA (PROspective study of Puerto Rican youth and Asthma).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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