Monica H. Swahn ^1* Robert M. Bossarte ¹

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mswahn{at}cdc.gov.

	Abstract

We examined the associations between victimization, and missed school because of feeling unsafe, and asthma episodes among US high-school students in 2003 using the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Cross-sectional analyses on adolescents with asthma (n=1943) showed that any victimization and missed school because of feeling unsafe significantly increased the odds of having an asthma episode in the past year (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=1.45; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07, 1.95 and adjusted OR = 2.93; 95% CI = 1.90, 4.53, respectively). Victimization and feeling unsafe are important but poorly understood risk factors for asthma.

Key Words: Adolescent Health, School Health, Injury/Emergency Care/Violence, Asthma, Urban Health