Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Comparison of Knowledge about Asthma Between Asians and Non-Asians at Two Pediatric Clinics

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Little is known about the relative knowledge of asthma in recent immigrant Asian populations in the United States (US). To comparatively assess asthma knowledge for Asian and non-Asian populations, 333 parents and children were surveyed at two geographically close urban clinics that had a large percentage of Asian patients, most of whom were Chinese. The Asian respondents scored lower compared to the non-Asian respondents on 4 of the 6 knowledge questions (p < 0.001). Subcategories of non-Asians (white, African-American, Hispanic) were more similar to each other than they were to Asians. In multivariate analysis we found that SES (measured as parental occupation) and being Asian were independent predictors of less asthma knowledge. Having family members with asthma did not improve knowledge scores. A single focus group of Cantonese-speaking parents of asthmatic children suggested that a combination of cultural factors and lack of knowledge contribute to lower knowledge scores in this Asian population. Asthma education programs need to be developed, tailored to recent Asian immigrants and tested for efficacy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Works Cited

  1. CDC (a). QuickStats: Percentage of Children Aged < 18 years Who Have Ever Had Asthma Diagnosed, by Age Group—United States, 2003. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports 29 April 2005; 54(16):412

  2. CDC. Asthma Prevalence, Health Care Use and Mortality. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Center for Health Statistics 2002

  3. “Asthma Prevalence, Healthcare Use and Mortality, 2002.” National Center for Health Statistics. 2002. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 12 Oct 2005 <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/asthma/asthma.htm>

  4. CDC (b). Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2003. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Center for Health Statistics. Series 10, Number 223. March 2005

  5. Chen C, Brugge D, Leung A, Finkelman A, Lu W, Rand W. Preferred language and asthma among Asian Americans. aapi nexus: Asian Am Pac Islanders Policy, Prac Commun 2005; 3:31–43

    Google Scholar 

  6. Lee T, Brugge D, Francis C, Fisher O. Asthma prevalence among inner-city Asian American school children. Public Health Reports 2003; 118:215–20

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Carter-Pokras OD, Gergen PJ. Reported asthma among Puerto Rican, Mexican-American, and Cuban children, 1982 through 1984. Am J Public Health 1993; 83:580–82

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Beckett WS, Belanger K, Gent JF, Holford TR, Leaderer BP. Asthma among Puerto Rican Hispactics: a multi-ethnic comparison study of risk factors. Am J Resp Crit Care 1996; 154:894–99

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Chan KS, Keeler E, Schonlau M, Rosen M, Mangione-Smith R. How do ethnicity and primary language spoken at home affect management practices and outcomes in children and adolescents with asthma? Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2005; 159:283–89

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Greenfield R, Lee AC, Tang R, Brugge D. Screening for asthma in Cantonese-speaking immigrant children. Biomed Central 2005; 5:48

    Google Scholar 

  11. Wolf RL, Berry CA, O’Connor T, Cover L. Validation of the brief pediatric asthma screen. Chest 1999; 116(4):224S–8S

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Cabana MD, Le TT. Challenges in asthma patient education. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2005; 115:1225–1227

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Zimmerman BJ, Bonner S, Evans D, Mellins RB. Self-regulating childhood asthma: a developmental model of family change. Health Edu Behav 1999; 26:55–71

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank South Cove Community Health Center, Eugene Welch and the doctors, nurses and staff including Roland Tang, MD., Vivian Tsuei, MD., Sherrie Zhang, MD., Ingrid Henar, MD., MPH, Chia-Mei Lu, Irene Chin, Chung He, Qi-Long Fun, Yanty Leung, Shu Lin and Wendy Wong. We would also like to thank Lynn Porter, MD of Tufts-New England Medical Center. We are grateful to the parents and children who participated in our surveys. We thank Lian Lian for her expertise in translating our questionnaires and Elaine Tse, MD., and Karen Lee for backtranslation services. We would like to thank Cato Hui, Carrie Hui and Connie Man for their assistance. Robyn Greenfield provided helpful comments on the manuscript. This project was funded by the Tufts University College of Citizenship and Public Service.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Arts and Sciences, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Angela C. Lee

  2. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA, USA

    Linh Phan

  3. Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA, 02111, USA

    Doug Brugge

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Mark Woodin

Authors
  1. Angela C. Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Doug Brugge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Linh Phan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mark Woodin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Doug Brugge.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lee, A.C., Brugge, D., Phan, L. et al. A Comparison of Knowledge about Asthma Between Asians and Non-Asians at Two Pediatric Clinics. J Immigrant Minority Health 9, 245–254 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-007-9036-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-007-9036-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation