Asthma Morbidity and its Association with Socioeconomic Status in the Australian Population

Dr. Matin Zohoori Niya, Dr. Joanne Hart, Dr. Rajneesh Kaur

Background

Asthma Australia reports that prevalence of asthma is highest among people living in the lowest socioeconomic areas. Studies have reported socioeconomic status (SES) disparity among asthma related hospitalisations even in the context of universal health care. Education, employment and income are the main indicators of SES.

Aims and objectives

This report assesses the association between Australian population’s SES indicators (educational attainment, employment and income level) and asthma morbidity defined by presentation to a hospital emergency department (ED) in the past 12 months.

Methods

We conducted a secondary analysis of self-reported data on 1626 Australians aged 18-64, experiencing current asthma from the Australian National Health Survey (NHS) 2017-18. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to generate prevalence odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals.

Results

There was no significant association between the SES indicators specified and the presentation to ED due to asthma. Females were more likely to have asthma-related presentation to ED in 12-month period (OR: 1.80 (95% CI 1.10-2.94), P= 0.018). However, ED presentation was less likely if participants had no action plan (OR: 0.35 (95%CI 0.23-0.55), P <0.001), not taking asthma medication (OR: 0.46 (95% CI 0.29-0.75), P= 0.02), and were currently non-smoker (OR: 0.85 (95%CI 0.76-0.95), P= 0.008).

Conclusions

This analysis on the Australian sample population did not show a significant association between SES and asthma-related presentations to ED. Future research can investigate subtypes of asthma (mild, severe, or atopic asthma) and the influence of SES.