Abstract Background Asthma remains a major public health concern, disproportionately affecting minoritized populations such as African Americans in the United States. Acculturation, which is defined as the process by which individuals or groups adopt the cultural traits, behaviors, values, or social patterns of another culture, and related socio-demographic factors, has been shown to influence asthma outcomes, particularly among Latino/Hispanic populations; however, limited data exist for African American children. This study aimed to examine the relationship between acculturation and asthma outcomes among African American children in Harlem, New York City. Methods This pilot cross-sectional study was carried out between December 2024 and May 2025 at the Harlem Hospital Pediatric Ambulatory Clinic. Participants aged 5-18 years with physician-diagnosed asthma of at least six months duration were recruited. Socio-demographic, clinical, and acculturation data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. First-generation children were defined as those born outside the United States; second-generation children were born in the U.S. with at least one foreign-born parent; and third-generation children were those born in the U.S. to U.S.-born parents. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 21, with Fisher’s exact tests applied for categorical variables and statistical significance set at p 0.05. Results Thirty-six participants were recruited for this pilot study (mean age 9.4 ± 3.4 years; 36.1% female). Of these, 30.6% were first- or second-generation, and 69.4% were third-generation. Third-generation participants compared to first and second-generation reported higher frequencies of asthma-related hospitalizations (71.4% vs. 28.6%) and emergency department (ED) visits (78.9% vs. 21.1%), although these differences were not statistically significant. Poisson regression analysis demonstrated a significant association between higher acculturation and increased ED visit frequency (RR = 2.6, 95% CI: 1.1-6.4; p = 0.038) but not with hospitalization. This association was more pronounced among females (RR = 4.4, 95% CI: 1.1-17.9; p = 0.039) and children with a parental history of atopic disease (RR = 3.6, 95% CI: 1.3-10.0; p = 0.017). Conclusion These findings suggest that acculturation and generational status may influence asthma morbidity, potentially through behavioral, environmental, or psychosocial factors. Larger, longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these associations and explore underlying mechanisms. This abstract is funded by: None
Opoola et al. (Fri,) studied this question.