Racial Disparities in Asthma-Related Health Outcomes in Children with Severe/Difficult-to-Treat Asthma

Background There are limited data that examine differences in asthma etiology between black and white children with severe or difficult-to-treat asthma. Objective To describe demographic, clinical, and asthma-related outcomes in black and white children and examine whether differences in outcomes are explained by confounding factors in sequential multivariable models. Methods Black (n = 86) and white (n = 262) children aged 6-11 years from The Epidemiology and Natural History of Asthma: Outcomes and Treatment Regimens 3-year observational study were analyzed. Baseline demographics and clinical characteristics were described for both cohorts, and outcomes at month 12 were analyzed using statistical models, sequentially adjusting for potential confounders. Results Black children were more likely to be male (79.1% vs 66.4%; P P P P P P P Conclusions Among children with severe or difficult-to-treat asthma, asthma burden is greater in black than white children particularly related to several clinical and patient-reported outcome measures that are not explained by differences in background or clinical characteristics.