Improving asthma self-efficacy: developing and testing a pilot community-based asthma intervention for African American adults.

Background: Low-income African American adults in Chicago have disproportionately high asthma morbidity and mortality rates. Interventions that improve asthma self-efficacy for appropriate self-management behaviors might ultimately improve asthma control in this population.

Objective: We sought to pilot test an intervention to improve asthma self-efficacy for appropriate self-management behaviors.

A community-based study of tobacco smoke exposure among inner-city children with asthma in Chicago.

Background: Little is known about the level of tobacco exposure and the factors that influence exposure in children with persistent asthma.

Objective: We sought to measure tobacco smoke exposure and determine factors associated with exposure in a large urban sample of asthmatic children.

Methods: This cross-sectional study is based on a community-based cohort of 482 children (8-14 years old) with persistent asthma.

Targeting improvements in asthma morbidity in Chicago: a 10-year retrospective of community action.

Chicago has been described as "asthma ground zero" due to its disproportionately high rates of asthma-related hospitalization and mortality. Asthma prevalence rates in Chicago are higher for whites and African Americans than the national average. In an effort to address the asthma burden and disparities in Chicago, multiple initiatives throughout the city have been launched and continue due largely to the support of the Otho S.