Asthma severity in black patients is tightly linked to family history and presence of atopy unlike that in white patients

Biologic factors are already known to play a role in asthma severity, and black patients are known to have a greater severity of asthma than white patients, with a four times higher risk for hospitalization and a five times increased risk of mortality. Immunoglobulin (Ig) E levels were associated with asthma severity in black, but not white, subjects. Having two or more family members with asthma more than doubled the likelihood of severe asthma in black patients, while it almost halved the likelihood in whites. Atopy was significantly associated with severe asthma in black, but not white, patients. Conversely, the presence of comorbidities was associated with severe asthma only in white patients.