The purpose of the study is to conduct a cross-sectional study to examine asthma prevalence and morbidity in a predominately minority, low-income population in rural Arkansas.

Asthma is the leading chronic disease of childhood in the United States and an important public health concern in Arkansas. Arkansas, a predominately rural state, has one of the leading mortality rates in the nation for African Americans. The specific aims of the study will examine asthma prevalence in children age 4-17 years old in public schools in Eudora and Marvell Arkansas. The study will also examine asthma morbidity among identified asthmatics by characterizing activity limitation, days missed from school, daytime and nocturnal symptoms, healthcare utilization and medication use. The specific aims of the current study will provide novel data on an understudied population of asthmatics and will test our working hypotheses that pediatric asthma prevalence in the Delta region of Arkansas is higher than national estimates; and asthma diagnosis is related to significant morbidity among rural asthmatics.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children aged 4-17 years, enrolled in the public schools in Eudora and Marvell Arkansas.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children aged 18 or older enrolled in the public schools in Eudora and Marvell Arkansas were excluded.

During the 2005-2006 school year, primary caregivers of all students aged 4-17 years attending public school in Eudora and Marvell Arkansas were asked to complete an asthma screening survey regarding their child. The schools are located in two non-contiguous counties in the Delta region of Arkansas and are in rural low-income areas of the state where more than one-third of families with children 5-17 years old meet the 2000 poverty line (Census bureau).