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Description
Asthma is a common lung disease that affects a significant number of people worldwide. However, the exact causes of the disease are still not clear. Previous studies have identified several risk factors associated with asthma among certain ethnic and age groups, but little research has been done among Asians. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to analyze the associations between several risk factors and asthma among Asian females in California using the 2011-2012 California Health Interview Survey. The two outcome variables were reported current and lifetime asthma, and the key predictor variable was the exposure to passive indoor smoking. In this study, obesity, as defined by the Asian BMI cutoff points, was the only significant risk factor associated with both current and lifetime asthma; the ORs of having current asthma were 2.37 for people who were obese compared to people who were not (95% CI, 1.29-4.36), and the ORs of having lifetime asthma were 2.10 for people who were obese compared to people who were not (95% CI, 1.23-3.60), after controlling for other variables. Other variables found to be associated with the two outcomes differed. For current asthma, the ORs of having current asthma were 3.19 for people who were extremely depressed during the past 30 days compared to people who were not (95% CI, 1.01-10.16). For lifetime asthma, subjects who lived in the rural areas were 64% less likely to have lifetime asthma than those who lived in the urban areas, after adjusting for other variables (95% CI, 0.14- 0.91). Subjects' current and lifetime smoking experiences were marginally significant as confounding factors for the main associations. Further studies are needed to evaluate passive indoor smoking and current and lifetime asthma among Asian females. Nevertheless, healthcare professionals should emphasize tobacco control strategies as a prevention of chronic pulmonary diseases such as asthma.
