Emergency Department Visits Attributable to Asthma in North Carolina, 2008

Details

• Personal Author:
  Liao W ; Lich KH ; Lippmann SJ ; Njord L ; Psek W ; Travers D ; Waller A ; Weinberger M ; Yeatts K
• Description:
  Background: Asthma is a prevalent, morbid, and costly chronic condition that may result in preventable exacerbations requiring emergency department (ED) care. In North Carolina we have limited information about the frequency and characteristics of asthma-related ED visits. Methods: We estimated statewide population-based asthma-related ED visit rates in North Carolina, both overall and by age, sex, geography, insurance, and season. Results: There were 86,700 asthma-related ED visits in North Carolina in 2008, representing 2.1% of all ED visits in the state. Substantial geographic variation existed, with rates ranging from 1.3 visits per 1,000 population in Ashe County to 21.0 visits per 1,000 population in Pasquotank County. Rates by age, sex, and month were consistent with the findings of other studies. Of asthma ED visits, 4.8% were preceded by another asthma visit to the same ED within 14 days. The proportion of patients who made at least 1 additional asthma visit to the same ED within 365 days was 23.5%; 11.6% of asthma ED patients met at least 1 criterion for being at high risk of hospitalization or death. Limitations: We lacked data on ED visits for asthma outside North Carolina, information about the accuracy of asthma diagnosis in the ED, patient identifiers that would allow linking across EDs, data on race or ethnicity, and data on urgent care utilization. Conclusions: We have characterized the burden of asthma in EDs across North Carolina, by county and among key subpopulations. These data can be used to target and evaluate local and statewide asthma-control policy efforts. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma Asthma, Occupational Emergency Responders Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Disease Incidence Emergency Treatment Health Care Medical Records Respiratory Diseases
• ISSN:
  0029-2559
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  9-17
• Volume:
  74
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054137
• Citation:
  NC Med J 2013 Jan/Feb; 74(1):9-17
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Kristen Hassmiller Lich, 135 Dauer Dr, CB #7411, UNC-CH, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7411
• Email:
  klich@unc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  North Carolina Medical Journal
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1e7cb4084afac140f96cc4615a5fa25ff537a2c618fe800dfefcae817636fe8f164345681a447e58626c3afe9ee6103c059da6d4a6616402d9ad38a7ebf67b49
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216767/cdc_216767_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.27 MB ]