Rosemarie G. Ramos, MPH, BS¹, Evelyn O. Talbott, MPH, DrPH², Ada Youk³, and Meryl H. Karol, PhD¹. (1) Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 130 DeSoto, 7th floor Dept of Environmental and Occupational Health, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, 412-650-8269, rgr4@pitt.edu, (2) Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, A526 Crabtree Hall, 130 DeSoto Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, (3) Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh, 130 DeSoto, A412 Crabtree Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Background: To be consistent with the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) goal to improve local asthma surveillance, we utilized local hospital discharge data to assess the rates and geographic distribution of adult asthma hospitalizations in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Methods: Hospitalization data was obtained from the Pennsylvania Cost Containment Council. The population of interest was adults 19-64 years of age that had been hospitalized for asthma from 1999-2001 in Allegheny County. Age-adjusted, age-specific, and group-specific rates for asthma hospitalization were assessed for the county. ARC-VIEW GIS mapping software was used to visualize the geographic distribution of these rates in each of the 72 zip codes within Allegheny County. For the zip codes that had “higher than expected” rates, standardized incidence ratios (SIR) with corresponding confidence intervals were calculated.

Findings: Adult asthma hospitalization rates for the county were similar to those published by the CDC. The gender and age-related disparity of hospitalizations that is reported by the CDC is also observed. When assessing the rates in each of the 72 zip codes within Allegheny County, 31 zip codes had rates that were higher than expected. Twelve zip codes, located predominantly in the Southeastern quadrant of the county, had rates that were significantly higher. Logistic regression analysis suggests a significant contribution of select socio-economic and demographic characteristics.

Conclusion:

We find that in Allegheny County there is a geo-specific distribution risk of hospitalization due to asthma which is significantly influenced by socioeconomic factors related to income and demographic characteristics related to race.

Learning Objectives:

• Demonstrate resources available for developing local asthma surveillance
• Recognize the geo-specific trend of asthma hospitalizations
• Analyze the burden of asthma severity within a community by assessing the rates and standardized incidence ratios of asthma hospitalizations Identify socio-demographic factors that contribute to the risk of asthma hospitalization

Keywords: Asthma, Surveillance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.