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Abstract
Background. Asthma affects millions of children in the United States. The extent to which asthma and other medical conditions coexist, however, is largely unknown. Objective. This study aimed to determine associations between symptomatic asthma and neurobehavioral comorbidities among children in rural United States. Methods. This cross-sectional study used data from 406 parents/caregivers of children aged 16 or younger, who completed survey questionnaires assessing their child's health status. Symptomatic asthma was defined as parents’/caregivers’ report of physician diagnosed asthma and presence of night-time asthma symptoms in their children. The dependent variables were parents’/caregivers’ reported comorbidities in children. Results. Symptomatic asthma was present in 9% of the sample. Approximately 26% parents/caregivers reported their child had one or more mental health problems and 13% reported one or more neurological problems. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, a statistically nonsignificant 50% elevated odds of one or more mental health problems were observed for children with symptomatic asthma (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.6–3.5). Of the individual comorbidities included in the mental health construct, more than 2-fold elevated odds of anxiety problems (adjusted OR = 2.6, 95% CI = 0.8–8.6) and attentional problems (adjusted OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.0–5.8) were observed for symptomatic asthma. The odds of reporting one or more neurological problems were 4-fold elevated (adjusted OR = 4.0, 95% CI = 1.6–10.0) for symptomatic asthma. Of the individual comorbidities included in the neurological construct a significantly elevated odds of hearing impairment or deafness was observed among children with symptomatic asthma (adjusted OR = 8.2, 95% CI = 1.5–45.3) as compared to the no asthma/no symptoms reference group. Conclusion. These data suggest significant associations between symptomatic asthma and neurological comorbidities.