Prevalence of childhood asthma in US military and non-military families: Comparisons by rural-urban residence and geographic region.

Objective: We sought to determine variables associated with asthma among children from military and non-military families.

Methods: We performed secondary data analysis on the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Parents with and without military experience ( = 61,079) were asked whether a child and . We used two multiple logistic regression models to determine the influence of rurality and geographic region on "ever" and "current" asthma in children of military and non-military families, while controlling for socio-demographic and behavioral variables.

Results: Overall childhood asthma prevalence for children in military families was lower than non-military families (ever, 9.7% vs. 12.9%; currently, 6.2% vs. 8.2%) in 2016. However, multiple logistic regression showed variation in "ever" and "current" asthma among children of military and non-military families by rurality and race.

Discussion: Developers of public health asthma interventions should consider targeting African-American children of military families living in urban areas. This population is approximately twice as likely to have asthma as Caucasian children of non-military families.