A Comparison of Atopy in Non-English versus English Speaking Asthmatics

Previous research has suggested that non-English speaking asthmatics have worse asthma control and pulmonary function test scores when compared to asthmatics that are fluent in English. The reason for this difference in asthma control between English and non-English speakers is likely multifactorial. In order to investigate possible contributors to the discrepancy in asthma control between these two populations, we sought to examine whether the degree of atopic disease is a significant contributing factor. Using electronic health records, we established a cohort of 418 asthmatics age 12 and older seen at an academic allergy and immunology clinic. 20 of the patients in the cohort were non-English speakers. We performed two tailed t-tests to compare the number of total positive aeroallergens and total IgE levels of non-English speaking asthmatics and fluent English speakers. Asthmatics that were non-English speakers had a mean total IgE of 323 UI/ml compared to English speakers with a mean IgE of 566 UI/ml, (p=0.48). Additionally, the mean number of positive aeroallergens for non-English speakers was 5.6 compared to 4.7 for fluent English speakers (p=0.45). Despite non-English speaking asthmatics having worse control of their asthma, they appear to have a similar degree of atopic disease compared to fluent English speakers at our center.