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This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Data Supplement All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2007.128843v1 99/4/690    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Subramanian, S. V. Articles by Wright, R. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Subramanian, S. V. Articles by Wright, R. J. Related Collections Epidemiology Hispanics/Latinos Other Race/Ethnicity Socioeconomic Factors Asthma

S. V. Subramanian, PhD, Hee-Jin Jun, ScD, Ichiro Kawachi, MD, PhD and Rosalind J. Wright, MD, MPH

S. V. Subramanian and Ichiro Kawachi are with the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Hee-Jin Jun and Rosalind J. Wright are with the Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to S. V. Subramanian, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, KRESGE 7th floor, Boston, MA 02115-6096 (e-mail: svsubram{at}hsph.harvard.edu).

Objectives. We assessed the relative contribution of Hispanic ethnicity, country of origin, and nativity to lifetime prevalence of asthma among mothers and children enrolled in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods.

Methods. We used multilevel models to analyze data from wave 3 of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods study (2000 to 2001). Mothers reported physician-diagnosed asthma for themselves and their children. Maternal race, ethnicity, country of origin, and nativity were the predictors of interest.

Results. We found substantial heterogeneity in lifetime asthma within Hispanic subgroups for mothers and children. Hispanics of non-Mexican origin had greater odds of having asthma than did non-Hispanic Whites; respondents of Mexican origin did not differ from non-Hispanic Whites. Odds of experiencing asthma were more strongly related to nativity than to race, Hispanic ethnicity, or country of origin. Only immigrant Mexicans reported asthma prevalence lower than that of native non-Hispanic Whites.

Conclusions. Nativity is a strong predictor of lifetime asthma prevalence, suggesting the importance of potential interactions between genetic susceptibilities and environmental factors in both the native and the host countries.