Prevalence and determinants of asthma among aboriginal adolescents in Canada

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of asthma in Aboriginal adolescents in Canada based on the Canadian Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) 2012. Few studies have investigated the prevalence and risk factors of asthma in Aboriginal adolescents in Canada. Methods: Data from the cross-sectional APS 2012 were analyzed to accomplish the objective. Logistic regression analysis was utilized to determine significant risk factors of lifetime diagnosis of asthma among Aboriginal adolescents. The outcome of interest for adolescents was based on the question: “Do you have asthma that have been diagnosed by a health professional?” Individual, environmental, and contextual factors were tested for an association with lifetime diagnosis of asthma among adolescents. Results: The overall prevalence of lifetime diagnosis of asthma was 16.0%. The prevalence of lifetime diagnosis of asthma was 16.8% for adolescent boys and 15.3% for adolescent girls. Based on multivariable logistic regression analysis, the risk factors of lifetime diagnosis of asthma were: age, income, being overweight, smoking inside the home, having one to two children under 18 years in the household, history of bronchitis, living in an urban residence, education, and geographical location. Female sex was reported to have a protective effect on or reduce risk of the prevalence of lifetime diagnosis of asthma compared to the male sex. Conclusions: Lifetime diagnosis of asthma prevalence appears to be lower in Aboriginal adolescent girls than in adolescent boys. Lifetime diagnosis of asthma prevalence in these adolescents is associated with age, income, education, being overweight, smoking inside the home, history of bronchitis, and location of residence, both geographical region and urban residence. The prevalence of lifetime diagnosis of asthma among Aboriginal adolescent is higher compared to the general adolescent population in Canada.

Keywords:

• Asthma
• aboriginal
• adolescents
• risk factors
• aboriginal peoples survey

Acknowledgements

The analysis presented in this paper was conducted at the SKY RDC, which is part of the Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN). The services and activities provided by the SKY RDC are made possible by the financial or kind support of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and Statistics Canada, and University of Saskatchewan. Although the research and analysis are based on data from Statistics Canada, the opinions expressed do not represent the views of Statistics Canada or the Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN).

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The analysis presented in this paper was conducted at the SKY RDC, which is part of the Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN). The services and activities provided by the SKY RDC are made possible by the financial or kind support of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and Statistics Canada, and University of Saskatchewan. Although the research and analysis are based on data from Statistics Canada, the opinions expressed do not represent the views of Statistics Canada or the Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN).