Etiology of ethnic differences in childhood spirometry

Strippoli, Marie-Pierre Françoise; Kuehni, Claudia Elisabeth; Dogaru, Cristian Mihai; Spycher, Ben Daniel; McNally, Teresa; Silverman, Michael; Beardsmore, Caroline Sarah (2013). Etiology of ethnic differences in childhood spirometry. Pediatrics, 131(6), e1842-e1849. American Academy of Pediatrics 10.1542/peds.2012-3003

[img] Text
Strippoli Pediatrics 2013.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to registered users only
Available under License Publisher holds Copyright.

Download (1MB) | Request a copy

OBJECTIVES

Age- and height-adjusted spirometric lung function of South Asian children is lower than those of white children. It is unclear whether this is purely genetic, or partly explained by the environment. In this study, we assessed whether cultural factors, socioeconomic status, intrauterine growth, environmental exposures, or a family and personal history of wheeze contribute to explaining the ethnic differences in spirometric lung function.

METHODS

We studied children aged 9 to 14 years from a population-based cohort, including 1088 white children and 275 UK-born South Asians. Log-transformed spirometric data were analyzed using multiple linear regressions, adjusting for anthropometric factors. Five different additional models adjusted for (1) cultural factors, (2) indicators of socioeconomic status, (3) perinatal data reflecting intrauterine growth, (4) environmental exposures, and (5) personal and family history of wheeze.

RESULTS

Height- and gender-adjusted forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expired volume in 1 second (FEV1) were lower in South Asian than white children (relative difference -11% and -9% respectively, P < .001), but PEF and FEF50 were similar (P ≥ .5). FEV1/FVC was higher in South Asians (1.8%, P < .001). These differences remained largely unchanged in all 5 alternative models.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study confirmed important differences in lung volumes between South Asian and white children. These were not attenuated after adjustment for cultural and socioeconomic factors and intrauterine growth, neither were they explained by differences in environmental exposures nor a personal or family history of wheeze. This suggests that differences in lung function may be mainly genetic in origin. The implication is that ethnicity-specific predicted values remain important specifically for South Asian children.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)

UniBE Contributor:

Strippoli, Marie-Pierre, Kühni, Claudia, Dogaru, Cristian, Spycher, Ben

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services

ISSN:

0031-4005

Publisher:

American Academy of Pediatrics

Language:

English

Submitter:

Doris Kopp Heim

Date Deposited:

19 Feb 2014 15:55

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 23:24

Publisher DOI:

10.1542/peds.2012-3003

PubMed ID:

23713103

Uncontrolled Keywords:

South Asian; ethnicity; lung function measurements; lung mechanics; migration

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.40857

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/40857

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback