Work

Social Determinants: Taking the Social Context of Asthma Seriously

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: Although asthma has emerged as a major contributor to disease and disability among US children, the burden of this disease is unevenly distributed within the population. This article provides a brief overview of social-status variables that predict variations in asthma risks and social exposures, such as stress and violence, that are emerging as important risk factors. The central focus of the article is on the distal social variables that have given rise to unhealthy residential environments in which the risk factors for asthma and other diseases are clustered. Effective initiatives for the prevention and treatment of childhood asthma need to address these nonmedical determinants of the prevalence of asthma.

Source: PEDIATRICS

DOI: 10.1542/peds.2008-2233h

Authors: David R. Williams, Michelle Sternthal, Rosalind J. Wright

Institutions: Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Asthma and respiratory diseases

Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences