PDF Ebook A Current Picture of Asthma Diagnosis, Severity, and Control
Asthma in low income and minority communities continues to be a significant public health concern. In the 10-13 year old age group, asthma prevalence in these communities is estimated to be as high as 22%. Asthma-related health care utilization is the highest among the chronic diseases of childhood and adolescence for annual hospitalizations and Emergency Department (ED) visits. Burden is very high on minority families. Black children are twice as likely as whites to need urgent care, three times as likely to be hospitalized, and four times as likely to die from asthma.
Calls for attention to the problem of disparities in asthma outcomes in low income communities, particularly for African Americans, have been numerous (LARA need refs). Further, black adolescents have been shown to be at highest risk for severe consequences of the disease including death (LARA need ref). This study examined factors in the group for which information about asthma treatment, severity and control is least available: pre teens in the important developmental stage from 10 to 13 years of age.
This is the period when a) asthma changes from a disease of boys to a disease of young women b) risk for mortality is the highest in the black community (LARA need ref) and c) physica and social development significantly influences how the disease is manifest and must be managed. The study presented here explored asthma severity, control, and medical regimens provided by clinicians, as well as compliance by patients in this developmentally significant age group and population experiencing adverse asthma outcomes. The purpose of the study was to identify factors related to assess the current situation in a population identified as in need of significant improvements in asthma management.
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PDF Ebook A Current Picture of Asthma Diagnosis, Severity, and Control
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