Asthma in Indigenous Australians: so much yet to do for Indigenous lung health

Jenkins, Christine; Chang, Anne B.; Poulos, L; Marks, Guy B.

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02550.x

Cited by 17 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…1,5 The disproportionate impact of asthma related to ethnicity is not unique to New Zealand. Similar disparities have been reported in a number of at risk ethnic groups internationally, including in Australia, 8 the United Kingdom, 9 America 10 and Canada. 11 There is evidence that barriers to health-care access 7,12,13 and differing patterns in medication use 1,7 contribute to these differences in asthma outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Combination budesonide/formoterol inhaler as maintenance and reliever therapy in Māori with asthma

Pilcher

Patel

Smith³

et al. 2014

Respirology

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Combination budesonide/formoterol inhaler as maintenance and reliever therapy in Māori with asthma

Pilcher

Patel

Smith³

et al. 2014

Respirology

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“…Asthma has generally not been viewed as a major health problem for Indigenous Australians [31]. While it is true that other chronic health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease account for a large share of morbidity and mortality in the Indigenous population [19], the nationally-representative data in this study indicate that, even in a country with a high overall burden of asthma by world standards, Indigenous people still suffer disproportionately.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Socioeconomic status and self-reported asthma in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults aged 18-64 years: analysis of national survey data

Cunningham

2010

Int J Equity Health

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BackgroundAsthma is more common among Indigenous than non-Indigenous Australian adults, but little is known about socioeconomic patterning of asthma within the Indigenous population, or whether it is similar to the non-Indigenous population.MethodsI analysed weighted data on self-reported current diagnosed asthma and a range of socio-economic and demographic measures for 5,417 Indigenous and 15,432 non-Indigenous adults aged 18-64 years from two nationally representative surveys conducted in parallel by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2004-05.ResultsCurrent asthma prevalence was higher for Indigenous than non-Indigenous people in every age group. After adjusting for age and sex, main language and place of residence were significantly associated with asthma prevalence in both populations. Traditional SES variables such as education, income and employment status were significantly associated with asthma in the non-Indigenous but not the Indigenous population. For example, age-and sex-adjusted relative odds of asthma among those who did not complete Year 10 (versus those who did) was 1.2 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0-1.5) in the non-Indigenous population versus 1.0 (95% CI 0.8-1.3) in the Indigenous population.ConclusionsThe socioeconomic patterning of asthma among Indigenous Australians is much less pronounced than for other chronic diseases such as diabetes and kidney disease, and contrasts with asthma patterns in the non-Indigenous population. This may be due in part to the episodic nature of asthma, and the well-known challenges in diagnosing it, especially among people with limited health literacy and/or limited access to health care, both of which are more likely in the Indigenous population. It may also reflect the importance of exposures occurring across the socioeconomic spectrum among Indigenous Australians, such as racism, and discrimination, marginalization and dispossession, chronic stress and exposure to violence.

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“…Indeed, asthma is the second most common reason for hospital admission among Indigenous Australians . Disturbingly, they also have three times the relative risk of asthma death . These ethnic disparities are not unique to Australia.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lastly, physician attitudes toward African American patients are worryingly negative, leading to qualitatively different medical consultations . Other ethnic minorities have not been as well studied as African Americans; however, existing data suggest many of these issues also apply to them …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%