Lines of Discovery
After Philips presentation, our team began by creating a map of all the nodes that surround kids with asthma. We identified numerous of people/points in which flourished the following questions: When do children realize they have asthma? What triggers asthma attacks? What prompts diagnosis? What has been done before (asthma)? What has been done before to encourage children to be self-sufficient (non-asthma)? How do children develop through age 4–10? What engages children in new routines? Is there a correlation between socioeconomic status and asthma? With these questions in mind, we found interesting information that allowed us to identify potential areas that we would like to explore further.
Before jumping to any question, we did our due diligence and learned as much as we could about asthma, specifically looking at ages 4 -10. Learning that no really knows why one person’s airways are more sensitive than another person’s, but we do know that asthma runs in families. Therefore, if a kid has asthma, he/she might have a family member that has asthma or had it as a kid. Exploring further, we identified that different kids have different triggers. Common triggers identified: pet dander, dust mites, mold, cockroach droppings, foods, pollens, furry animals, cigarette smoke, perfume, chalk dust, and the list goes on and on. Which leads to our next question, when do children realize they have asthma? Asthma is typically diagnosed with medical exam and a test that measures the airflow in and out of the lungs. Which makes it difficult to determine whether a child has asthma, as younger children may not be able to complete the airflow test.
The uncertainty of asthma concerns many parents, especially when their child has a common cold and shows symptoms like asthma. Pediatricians are reluctant to diagnose children under 2 with asthma, because frequently babies who wheeze with respiratory infections stop wheezing after 2 years old. When children are diagnosed with asthma, some parents take the news better than others. Concerned parents take in consideration all potential triggers and are cautious when it comes to their children’s activities and environments. For example, we identified that some parents steer their children toward swimming rather than outdoor sports. However, with proper treatment doctors believe that children who have asthma should not be limited to physical activities. In fact, it is encouraged to exercise to strengthen their lungs.
We wanted to explore the other side of parenting and identify the parents that don’t particularly restrict or pave a road for their child who has asthma. For most cases, it is not that parents don’t care but don’t have the resources and knowledge to help their child. Exploring this further, we looked closely to the relationship of socioeconomic status and asthma. We found out that there is profound variability in the prevalence and morbidity of asthma among ethnic groups.
As shown in table 1, asthma severity is higher in certain ethnic groups such as Puerto Ricans and African Americans. Research in this area explains how certain groups have more exposure to prevalent asthma triggers, indoor and outdoor allergens. For example, levels of indoor allergens are higher in urban households in low-income areas and in those hosting multiple families. Therefore, exposures and factors correlated with ethnicity through socioeconomic status are likely to explain a significant proportion of observed ethnic difference in asthma morbidity.
