Friday, April 4, 2025
4/4/2025
EQUITABLE: Equity in Treatment for Asthma Between Latinos and Whites - Project Summary/Abstract Latino-Americans have worse asthma outcomes than non-Hispanic whites, but the factors that drive this disparity most heavily are poorly understood. Whether or not Latino adults utilize or experience less quality primary care for asthma is significantly understudied; therefore, the contribution of basic asthma care services to outcomes is unknown. Some evidence in the health services literature suggests that social determinants of health (individual- and community-level economic, social, and environmental factors) affect utilization of asthma care. It is uncertain, however, which specific asthma care services are underused by Latino adults, and how social determinants might be associated with this group’s utilization. The dearth of knowledge about social determinants and asthma care in Latinos is due, at least in part, to the lack of comprehensive data on ambulatory health care utilization linked to data on individual- and community- level social determinants of health. This project will assess disparities in asthma care between Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites and identify the factors underlying those disparities. To do so, we will leverage a unique data resource from a large, national network of community health centers with shared electronic health record data that is linked to multiple external data sources, including community-level social determinants of health data. This large, longitudinal dataset contains unprecedented data linkages which will let us assess disparities, evaluate which social determinants affect utilization and disparities, and determine which of these may do so most significantly over time; in so doing, we will address an important knowledge gap. We will also further develop methods to understand sub group differences (between Latinos of Mexican and Dominican heritage, for instance) in asthma care utilization. Identifying the factors (individual or community) that most heavily impact asthma care is crucial to the prioritization of population-based interventions to improve asthma care. Understanding the relative impact of social determinants of health on asthma care in Latinos will enable action/intervention in three ways: 1. It will enable more informed policy decisions to improve public health and wellness in Latino-Americans. 2. It will also facilitate strategic partnerships between healthcare providers and community agencies poised to intervene in social factors in the lives of Latino-Americans. 3. It will help clinical providers understand their patients’ barriers to asthma care, and further point-of-care efforts to address these barriers that influence their patients’ utilization of recommended services for this common chronic disease, especially because this research will be done in a network able to rapidly apply findings.
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