Abstract

The relation between biosocial factors and childhood asthma in a British national sample (n = greater than 14 000) is examined. The presence of asthma was found to associate with sex of the child, parental age and occupation, housing type, and overcrowding as well as eczema and some infectious diseases. Discriminant analysis showed that it was possible to differentiate between asthmatics and non-asthmatics due mainly to allergy related factors.