The Burden of Asthma in Texas
Asthma is a chronic lung disease characterized by inflammation, which refers to the swelling of the inner lining of the airways, thus narrowing the air passage, bronchoconstriction, which is the tightening of the muscles surrounding the airways, and increases in the production of mucus.
Asthma is a widespread public health problem that has increased in the past two decades in the United States (U.S.) and Texas. According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), more than 23 million, or 8.0% percent of the adult U.S. population in 2005, self-reported that they currently have asthma, with the prevalence still increasing.
The most recent data in 2003 shows that the hospitalization rate was 17 per 10,000 U.S. residents, accounting for more than 484,000 hospitalizations. There were a total of 4,261 deaths in the U.S. for the same year with a mortality rate of 1.5 per 100,000 residents.
In Texas, asthma also remains one of the most prevalent chronic diseases and growing health concerns. According to the Texas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey (BRFSS) in 2005, an estimated 2.5 million (11.1%) and 1.5 million (6.7%) adult Texans (18 years or older) have self-reported lifetime and current asthma respectively.
Asthma affects more children than any other chronic disease1 and is one of the most frequent reasons for hospital admissions among children. There were 728,000 (11.6%) and 458,000 (7.3%) Texas children (0-17 years of age) with self-reported lifetime and current asthma respectively. Given the large numbers of affected Texans, asthma resulted in major economic and social burdens.
The hospitalization rate for Texas in 2004 was 11.5 per 10,000 Texas residents, accounting for more than 146,920 hospitalizations and 353.8 million in total hospital charges. From 1999 through 2005, there were a total of 1,831 deaths in Texas with a mortality rate of 13.9 per 1,000,000 Texas residents.
The mission of the Texas Asthma Control and Prevention Program is to decrease preventable asthma morbidity and reduce the social and economic impact of asthma. Along with many partners across the state who have a common vision for asthma health, we seek to reduce the severity of asthma symptoms, and decrease the number of emergency department hospital visits and deaths due to asthma through education and awareness campaigns.
Asthma has a major impact on the health of the population and the burden falls disproportionately on some populations. Monitoring trends in asthma morbidity and mortality among Texans is important for increasing the level of knowledge about this highly prevalent condition. Surveillance data help public health officials focus their efforts to address asthma by targeting those most in need of intervention.
Data also raise awareness about the effect of asthma on the health of the community. This report documents the magnitude of the problem, and identifies particular communities, settings and characteristics at risk for developing life threatening episodes of asthma in Texas.
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