Asthma and academic performance in urban children

Abstract

A B S T R A C TBackground: Urban minority children experience high levels of asthma morbidity. Poor school performance can be an indicator that asthma is in poor control. Little attention has been paid to examining real-time links between asthma and academic performance, particularly in high-risk groups. Objective: Examine 1) academic performance across a range of indicators in a group of urban children with asthma and urban children without chronic illness and ethnic differences in these associations, and 2) associations between asthma and academic performance in the group of urban children with asthma and ethnic differences in these associations. Methods: Two hundred sixteen black/African American (33%), Latino (46%), and non-Latino white (21%) urban children, ages 7 to 9 years completed a clinic-and home-based protocol that assessed asthma and allergy status, objective measurements of lung function, and academic functioning. Results: Analyses revealed that children with asthma experienced a higher number of school absences when compared with healthy controls. Greater disparities in academic outcomes emerged when examining ethnic differences within the groups of children with and without asthma. Poor academic outcomes were observed in Latino children with asthma. Furthermore, a strong correspondence of poor asthma outcomes and decrements in academic performance were seen in the full sample, and these associations emerged across ethnic groups. Conclusion: Asthma activity contributes to poorer academic outcomes across a range of indicators, and urban minority children with asthma, particularly Latino children, may be at heightened risk for poorer academic performance. School management guidelines for asthma need to be consistently implemented and tailored for school staff, caregivers, and students with asthma to address challenges of managing asthma within the urban school setting.

Childhood Asthma in Nigeria: A Review of the Burden and Challenges of Management

“…Bronchial asthma is a leading cause of school absenteeism in school-age children worldwide including Nigeria. [45][46][47] Nduagubam, et al [45] in Enugu, southeast Nigeria, reported that children with bronchial asthma were more likely to be absent from school compared to their counterparts without asthma. Similar findings have been reported in parts of the developed countries.…”

“…Similar findings have been reported in parts of the developed countries. [46,47] Indeed, childhood bronchial asthma was estimated to be responsible for about 14.4 million school absence days in the US alone in 2008. [46] Prolonged school absenteeism has the potential to affect academic performance and development of children with bronchial asthma.…”

Visto, Pero No Escuchado: A Qualitative Arm of a Mixed-Methods Study of Puerto Rican Children With Asthma

“…Researchers continue to indicate that minority children in urban areas have the highest morbidity. These children face multiple barriers for a positive health outcome (Feldman et al, 2019;Koinis-Mitchell, Kopel, Farrow, McQuaid, & Nassau, 2019;Kwok et al, 2018). Limited communication with a health care provider (HCP) is one such barrier.…”

Mold exposure levels in northeastern U.S. schools and homes : a quantitative examination of the difference in mold exposure levels between schools and homes & the asthma prevalence for a subset of northeastern U.S. schools among children ages 4 to 15

“…The researchers found that frequent asthma symptoms were associated with poor math scores (t= -2.22, p=0.03), more school absences (t= 2.57, p=0.01), and worse quality of work (t= -2.63, p=0.01). Whereas, better lung function corresponded with higher math scores (t= 2.73, p=0.01), higher reading scores (t=2.98, p=0.003), fewer school absences (t= -2.96, p=0.01), and better quality of work (t= 2.38, p= 0.02) (Koinis-Mitchell et al, 2019). Poor academics may affect self-confidence and selfefficacy (Shams et al, 2018).…”

“…It might be beneficial for school nurses in addition to school counselors to be trained in Multisystemic Therapy (MST-HC) adapted for healthcare settings, which could ultimately decrease asthma symptoms, anxiety, and improve academics (Koinis-Mitchell, Kopel, Farrow, McQuaid, & Nassau, 2019). Offering more free public counseling at schools is needed as many adolescents with asthma have depression and/or anxiety, and it may possibly decrease asthma exacerbations .…”