Asthma Morbidity, Comorbidities, and Modifiable Factors Among Older Adults

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
• Personal Author:
  Hsu, Joy ; Chen, Jessica ; Mirabelli, Maria C.
• Description:
  Background
  
  Asthma morbidity is increased among older adults, especially older adult women. Interventions to improve asthma control in this population are not well-described.
  
  Objective
  
  Identify risk factors (including modifiable factors) associated with asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency department or urgent care center visits (ED/UCV) among older adults. A secondary objective was to investigate sex differences in variables relevant to asthma control.
  
  Methods
  
  Data were obtained from 14,076 older adults ≥65 years with active asthma participating in the 2006–2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Asthma Call-back Survey (a random-digit dialed survey) in 40 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, representative of >2.6 million persons. Weighted, adjusted logistic regression was conducted.
  
  Results
  
  ≥1 asthma-related hospitalizations in the past year were reported by 5.7% (95% confidence interval [95% CI]=5.0–6.4%) of participants; 10.6% (95% CI=9.7–11.5%) reported ≥1 asthma-related ED/UCV. Compared to older adults without asthma-related hospitalizations, adjusted odds were higher among those with ≥1 asthma-related hospitalization for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary artery disease, depression, cockroaches or mold in the home, and cost barriers to asthma-related health care or medication. All these factors, except for cockroaches, were associated with asthma-related ED/UCV. Compared to males, adjusted odds were higher among females for COPD, depression, obesity, and cost barriers to asthma-related health care or medication.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Among older adults, asthma-related hospitalizations and ED/UCV were associated with clinical comorbidities, mold in the home, and financial barriers to asthma-related health care. Interventions addressing modifiable factors could reduce asthma morbidity among older adults.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Article Asthma Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Cockroach Cost Depression Elderly Environment Health Care Utilization Mold Older Adults

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• Source:
  J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 6(1):236-243.e7
• Pubmed ID:
  28756082
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5760447
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  6
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:79a214c8a58f585d63821324174dc835106616d71505cb38e6fe205b23086622
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/50850/cdc_50850_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 699.06 KB ]