• Elina Jerschow, Garrett Strizich, Xiaonan Xue, Golda Hudes, Simon Spivack, Victoria Persky, Guadalupe X Ayala, Alan Delamater, Youngmee Kim, Erin Etzel, Jianwen Cai, and Robert C Kaplan.
• Department of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York. Electronic address: elina.jerschow@einstein.yu.edu.
• Am J Prev Med. 2017 May 1; 52 (5): 579588579-588.

IntroductionAsthma prevalence is reportedly higher among U.S.-born relative to foreign-born Hispanics/Latinos. Little is known about rates of asthma onset before and after relocation to the U.S. in Latinos. Asthma rates were examined by U.S. residence and country/territory of origin.MethodsIn 2015-2016, age at first onset of asthma symptoms was analyzed, defined retrospectively from a cross-sectional survey in 2008-2011, in relation to birthplace and U.S. residence among 15,573 U.S.-dwelling participants (aged 18-76 years) in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.ResultsCumulative incidence of asthma through age 30 years ranged from 7.9% among Mexican background individuals to 29.4% among those of Puerto Rican background. Among those born outside the U.S. mainland, the adjusted hazard for asthma was 1.52-fold higher (95% CI=1.25, 1.85) after relocation versus before relocation to the U.S. mainland, with heterogeneity in this association by Hispanic/Latino background (p-interaction<0.0001). Among foreign-born Dominicans and Mexicans, rates of asthma were greater after relocation versus before relocation (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] for after versus before relocation, 2.42, 95% CI=1.44, 4.05 among Dominicans; AHR=2.90, 95% CI=2.02, 4.16 among Mexicans). Puerto Ricans had modestly increased asthma onset associated with U.S. mainland residence (AHR=1.52, 95% CI=1.06, 2.17). No similar increase associated with U.S. residence was observed among Central/South American immigrants (AHR=0.94, 95% CI=0.53, 1.67). Asthma rates among Cuban immigrants were lower after relocation (AHR=0.45, 95% CI=0.24, 0.82).ConclusionsThe effect of relocation to the U.S. on asthma risk among Hispanics is not uniform across Hispanic/Latino groups.Copyright © 2017 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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