Comparison of asthma prevalence among African American teenage youth attending public high schools in rural Georgia and urban Detroit.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The high prevalence of asthma among urban African American (AA) populations has attracted research attention, whereas the prevalence among rural AA populations is poorly documented.

Objective

We sought to compare the prevalence of asthma among AA youth in rural Georgia and urban Detroit, Michigan.

Methods

The prevalence of asthma was compared in population-based samples of 7297 youth attending Detroit public high schools and in 2523 youth attending public high schools in rural Georgia. Current asthma was defined as a physician diagnosis and symptoms in the previous 12 months. Undiagnosed asthma was defined as multiple respiratory symptoms in the previous 12 months without a physician diagnosis.

Results

In Detroit, 6994 (95.8%) youth were AA compared

SUBMITTER: Ownby DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4562865 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature