Association of Neighborhood Characteristics With Pediatric Asthma

Objective: To examine associations between neighborhood characteristics and asthma prevalence and severity among low-income children in a large nationally representative sample.

Methods: Data source: 2018 National Survey of Children's Health, limited to low-income children, ages 0-17 years. We grouped parent responses about neighborhood characteristics into 5 scores: neighborhood support, safety, resources and quality, and a total score. Logistic regression compared rates and severity of asthma by neighborhood scores, adjusting for age, sex, race, and income.

Results: Of 8,653 low-income children, those living in neighborhoods with better total neighborhood scores were significantly less likely to have parent-reported asthma; OR = 0.9, 95% CI: 0.8-1.0; P = .02, with similar findings for children living in neighborhoods with higher support, safety, and quality scores. We found no associations between neighborhood scores and asthma severity in this population.

Conclusions: Favorable neighborhoods are associated with lower parent-reported asthma prevalence in low-income children but not asthma severity. These data may support providers and policy makers interested in child asthma in addressing neighborhood improvement.