Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

In the United States, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) disproportionately affect African Americans, Puerto Ricans, and other minority groups. Compared with non-Hispanic whites, minorities have been marginalized and more frequently exposed to environmental risk factors such as tobacco smoke and outdoor and indoor pollutants. Such divergent environmental exposures, alone or interacting with heredity, lead to disparities in the prevalence, morbidity, and mortality of asthma and COPD, which are worsened by lack of access to health care. In this article, we review the burden and risk factors for racial or ethnic disparities in asthma and COPD and discuss future directions in this field.

Keywords: Asthma; Black; COPD; Health disparities; Hispanic; Race/ethnicity.

Figure 1.. Genetic and Environmental Factors Influencing COPD.

COPD is due to interactions between genetic and environmental risk factors. Racial or ethnic disparities in COPD are largely due to unequal exposure to tobacco smoke and other environmental risk factors in genetically susceptible individuals.

Figure 2.. Self-Reported COPD, Spirometry-Confirmed COPD, and Current Smoking Prevalence Across Racial and Ethnic Groups

Data for self-reported COPD from references 64 and 66, those for spirometry-defined COPD from references 65 and 67 and those for current smoking from references 76 and 79.