176072 A framework for regional analysis of the 2006 BRFSS asthma call-back survey

Monday, October 27, 2008: 5:35 PM

Laurie Stillman, MM , Asthma Regional Council of New England, Health Resources in Action, Boston, MA
Mary Adams, MS, MPH , On Target Health Data, LLC, West Suffield, CT
Betsy Rosenfeld, JD , Office of Public Health and Science, US Department of Health and Human Services, Boston, MA
The Asthma Regional Council (ARC) brings together multi-disciplinary partners to better understand and address the asthma epidemic in New England. In the past, ARC analyzed the 2001 and 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and discovered that our region had among the highest rates of adult and childhood asthma, as well as identified specific populations at greatest risk. To understand the epidemic at a deeper level, ARC not only analyzed the 2006 BRFSS prevalence rates and multi-year trends, but also evaluated the more detailed information collected by the BRFSS asthma call-back (telephone follow-up) survey. State partners worked collaboratively to help ARC determine which of the many questions in the survey would yield information that could best assist policy makers in evaluating the disease and addressing the epidemic more efficiently and effectively. Indicators analyzed included the proportion of asthmatics that visit hospital emergency departments for asthma-related care, the presence of in-home asthma triggers, and characteristics or status of asthma management and control in the population. These are measures that have never been broadly analyzed before on a state-by-state or regional basis. The region also grappled with characterizing asthma severity using updated national standards. By conducting a regional analysis, this project has made it possible to obtain meaningful statistical results that would generally not be possible with a state-by-state analysis in a single year. This presentation will not only demonstrate selected findings, but will also discuss the framework used to analyze the call-back data through a collaborative effort.

Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize the benefits of conducting a multi-state analysis of asthma call-back data 2. Learn about the policy implications that can be derived from the BRFSS call-back survey 3. Construct a framework for analyzing the data, including measures of asthma severity

Keywords: Asthma, Epidemiology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I conceived of, and conducted the research along with my co-authors. I have presented numerous abstracts at APHA annual meetings. I have over 25 years of experience in the public health field and hold a Master's Degree in Health Management and Social Policy.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Chronic Disease Epidemiology
See more of: Epidemiology