Patterns and drivers of disparities in pediatric asthma outcomes among Medicaid-enrolled children living in subsidized housing in NYC

Abstract

Objective

There are persistent disparities in pediatric asthma morbidity in the U.S. We linked claims data with information on neighborhood-level risk factors to explore drivers of asthma disparities among Medicaid-enrolled children in New York City subsidized housing.

Methods

We constructed a cohort of Medicaid-enrolled children living in public or other subsidized housing, based on residential address, in NYC between 2016 and 2019 (n = 108,969). We examined claims-derived asthma prevalence across age and racial and ethnic groups, integrating census tract-level information and using the Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding (BISG) algorithm to address high rates of missing data in self-reported race and ethnicity. We used inverse probability weighting (IPW) to explore the extent to which disparities persisted when exposure to asthma risk factors – related to the built environment, neighborhood poverty, and air quality – were balanced across groups. This analysis was conducted in 2022–2023.

Results

Claims-derived asthma prevalence was highest among children <7 years at baseline and among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic children. For example, among children aged 3–6 years at baseline, claims-derived prevalence was 17.3% and 18.1% among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic children, respectively, compared to 9.3% and 9.0% among non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Asian American/Pacific Islander children. Using IPW to balance exposure to asthma risk factors across racial and ethnic groups attenuated, but did not eliminate, disparities in asthma prevalence.

Conclusions

We found high asthma burden among children living in subsidized housing. Modifiable place-based characteristics may be important contributors to pediatric asthma disparities.