Trends in asthma prevalence, hospitalization risk, and inhaled corticosteroid use among Alaska Native and nonnative Medicaid recipients younger than 20 years

Relatively dramatic demographic differences and temporal trends in asthma prevalence occurred in the absence of known differences or changes in risk factor prevalences. This suggests a role for differences in the use of asthma as a diagnosis for respiratory illness. Failure to diagnose and thus treat asthma may affect outcomes because decreases in hospitalization risk were temporally associated with increases in inhaled corticosteroid use.