ATGC Gene-Environment, Admixture and Latino Asthmatics Study I Asthma

Subjects with asthma and their biological parents were enrolled over a 4-year period in the San Francisco Bay Area, California; New York City, New York; Puerto Rico; and Mexico City, Mexico. Investigators recruited subjects from community schools, clinics, and hospitals that cared for Latino populations. In all health care centers, medical records were reviewed to identify patients with physician-diagnosed asthma, who then were contacted to participate in the study. Asthma cases were between the ages of 8 and 40 years, had physician-diagnosed asthma, and had two or more asthma symptoms (among wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath) in the 2 years prior to recruitment. Our goal was to recruit equal proportions of subjects with mild and moderate–severe asthma as defined by the study protocol (1). Local institutional review boards, school boards, and clinics approved the study. Recruitment was standardized across all clinical centers. Bilingual and bicultural physicians specialized in asthma were present at all interviews. All forms and questionnaires for subjects were available in English and Spanish. Although questionnaires at each recruitment site were identical, culturally and linguistically competent recruiters interviewed all subjects to account for differences in local Spanish dialects.
1. Burchard EG, Avila PC, Nazario S, Casal J, Torres A, Rodriguez-Santana JR, et al. Lower bronchodilator responsiveness in Puerto Rican than in Mexican subjects with asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2004 Feb 1;169(3):386-92.