Application of a novel socioeconomic measure using individual housing data in asthma research: an exploratory study

Socioeconomic status, as predicted by property data, is associated with how well children manage their asthma symptoms. Young Juhn at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA, previously developed and validated the HOUsing-based index of SocioEconomic Status (HOUSES) in Minnesota and Missouri. The metric correlated with various health effects, including risk of obesity and exposure to cigarette smoke. To assess whether HOUSES was also predictive of health status among children with asthma, the researchers looked at a random sample of 58 children treated for the lung condition at a hospital in South Dakota. Eight of these children had poorly controlled asthma, six of whom came from the lowest socioeconomic bracket, as measured by HOUSES. The study indicates that HOUSES is a useful indicator of asthma outcomes and it confirms the tool's accuracy in another region of the United States.