Pediatric Asthma Management Within Latino and Non-Latino White Families

Pediatric asthma disparities exist with Latino children, especially from Island Puerto Rico (PR), experiencing greater asthma prevalence and morbidity than non-Latino White (NLW) children. Families must balance attention to child asthma with other child and family needs, defined as the "balanced integration of asthma." This study examined the impact of culturally related factors on the balanced integration of asthma in NLW and Latino families in Rhode Island (RI) and PR, as well as associations between balanced integration and asthma morbidity. Participants included 601 caregivers and their children with asthma (7-16 years) from NLW and Latino backgrounds in RI and PR. Caregivers and children completed interview-administered assessments and a semistructured interview related to family asthma management. Balanced integration of asthma differed significantly by ethnic group/site (p < .001), with Island PR families having the lowest levels of balanced integration. Higher balanced integration was associated with fewer concerns about asthma medications, higher levels of Spanish proficiency in RI Latino families, lower levels of functional limitation, and no emergency department visits in the last year (all ps < .05). Findings suggest that Latino families may experience more difficulty adjusting to child asthma in the context of other child and family demands. Medication beliefs and language proficiency may begin to explain these differences. Our study suggests the importance of continuing to understand how families balance asthma with other aspects of daily life, as culturally appropriate interventions to improve family adjustment to asthma may serve to reduce child asthma morbidity.