Breathe easy in Seattle: Addressing asthma disparities through healtheir housing

Abstract

Asthma is a common chronic health condition that disproportionately affects low income people and people of color. The prevalence and morbidity of asthma in the United States have increased dramatically in the past two decades and remain high (1). Relative to wealthier and white populations, disadvantaged populations have higher asthma prevalence and experience more severe impacts such as severe attacks leading to emergency department visits and hospitalizations (2-12). Two recent publications summarize the disproportionate asthma morbidity found among black, Native American, and some Latino populations (13,14). Non-Hospanic blacks and American Indians of all ages had current asthma prevalence 30% higher than non-Hispanic whites in 2002 (15). The emergency department visit rate among blacks was 380% higher than that among whites, the hospitalization rate was 225% higher, and the mortality rate was 200% higher (15). © 2007 Humana Press Inc.