Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology
-
Ann. Allergy Asthma Immunol. · Aug 2006
Disparities in the use of urgent health care services among asthmatic children.
Urgent care composes one third of the total costs associated with asthma. Asthmatic children of African American and Latino backgrounds have higher rates of emergency department (ED) use and hospitalizations than white children, especially in urban settings. ⋯ There is a failure in asthma management in this urban population, demonstrated by the finding that almost half of all current asthmatic patients used urgent care. After controlling for different socioeconomic and disease-related factors, minority race/ethnicity, low household income, and frequent evening symptoms were found to be strong predictors of urgent care utilization. Insurance status, delaying care for any reason, and use of controller medications were found not to be associated with urgent care use.