Executive Summary

2. Executive Summary • Asthma is a serious public health issue with far reaching implications: • Medical • Economic • Psychosocial • Ultimately, persons with asthma report a lower quality of life.

3. Key Findings • Utah residents aged 18-24 and 55-64 experienced the highest prevalence of asthma. • Adult females in Utah had a higher prevalence of asthma than adult males. • 41.5% and 30.8% of middle and high school males and females respectively, reported an asthma attack in the past year. • Of those middle and high school students who reported an asthma attack in the last year only 11.9% of males and 15.0% of females had a written asthma plan.

4. Key Findings • Persons living in the Central Utah and Tri-County districts were more likely to have been diagnosed with asthma than those in other health districts. • 64.4% of males and 60.7% of females who suffered from asthma reported taking asthma medication. • 45.5% and 50.2% of males and females respectively experienced asthma symptoms one or more times a week.

5. Asthma Data in Utah Three types of data used in this report: 1. Survey Data 2. Mortality Data 3. Morbidity Data

6. Survey Data • Health Status Survey (HSS) • Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) • Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS)

7. Utah Health Status Survey • Telephone survey of civilian, non-institutionalized Utah residents. • Started in 1981, in 2003 conducted on a continual basis. • Significant source of data on persons aged 0-17.

8. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System • National data collection program (CDC). • Implemented in 1984 to assess health trends. • Monthly telephone survey conducted by UDOH. • 4000 randomly selected Utahns ages 18 or older are asked about their health, health behaviors, health care access and demographic information.

9. Youth Tobacco Survey • New data source, 2003 was the first time used • Administered to middle and high school students • Nine questions addressing asthma • Survey responses received from 2,796 middle school students and 2,587 high school students • Did not include private or alternative schools, or school drop outs

10. Morbidity Hospital Discharge Database Data from all 55 Utah hospitals Demographic data Diagnoses at discharge Emergency Department Database Data from all licensed hospitals in Utah Diagnoses Procedures Services provided Mortality Vital Statistics Death certificates filed with UDOH Office of Vital Records and Statistics Began in 1905 Based on national standard Demographic information Cause of death Morbidity and Mortality

11. Asthma Prevalence • Young adults (18-24) and older adults (55-65) reported the highest diagnosed asthma prevalence. Source: Age 0-17 Health Status Survey 2001 Source: Age 18+ Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2001-2002

12. Asthma Prevalence • Persons reporting fair or poor health status were more likely to have asthma than those in good, very good or excellent health. Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

13. Asthma Prevalence • Utahns living in the Central Utah and Tri-County districts were more likely to have asthma than those in other health districts. Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

14. Impacts of Asthma • Adults with asthma reported 2.2 less days healthy and full of energy during the past month than those without asthma. Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

15. Impacts of Asthma • Close to 50% of adults had an asthma attack in the past twelve months and a similar percentage had symptoms one or more times a week. Almost 38% reported taking no asthma medication. Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

16. Impacts of Asthma • Middle and high school males were more likely to report having suffered from an asthma attack, limited their activities, or missed school than their female counterparts. Source: Youth Tobacco Survey

17. Impacts of Asthma • Only about 15% of middle and high school students who suffer from asthma have a written asthma action plan, while only 8% of students use peak flow meter one or more times a week to manage their asthma. Source: Youth Tobacco Survey

18. Asthma Hospitalizations • Male children younger than 5 years of age and elderly females aged 65 years or older were more likely to have been hospitalized because of asthma than any persons in other age groups. Source: Hospital Discharge Database

19. Emergency Department Visits • Male children younger than 5 years of age were most likely to have visited the emergency department due to asthma than other age groups. • Females from age 15 and up, were more likely to have visited the emergency department than males. Source: Emergency Department Visit Database

20. Asthma Mortality • Persons 65 years or older experienced the highest number of deaths due to asthma. Source: Utah Death Certificate Database

21. Conclusions • This report represents the most current picture of the burden of asthma in Utah. • Asthma prevalence among Utah adults was 7.5%. • Two age groups had the highest prevalence, 18-24 and 55-64. • Males were more likely to be on asthma medication. • Both genders in middle and high school report a low percentage of having a written asthma plan.

22. Conclusions • Females in the age groups 35-44, 45-54, and 55-64 were twice as likely to be hospitalized for asthma than males in the same age group. • 128 of the deaths related to asthma between 1998-2002 occurred in persons aged 65 and older. • Some of this deaths many have been misdiagnosed as asthma when in actuality it was COPD. • Data regarding asthma prevalence among preschool and elementary aged children is needed. • Exploration into why Central Utah and Tri-County have an increased prevalence rate of asthma are needed.