Burden of Asthma on California Schools: Statewide and Local Attendance and Financial Losses and Academic Achievement Analysis

Background/Purpose: This paper presents data on the burden of asthma on school districts in California. The burden is defined as student absences, achievement, and financial losses. Asthma is an epidemic and a source of health inequities in California with the prevalence by youth ethnic groups ranging from 16% to 28%. Given state and local budget deficits, it is imperative to document unnecessary educational and fiscal losses, and to design policies to reduce these losses.

Significance/Methodology: Given the absence of a perfect system to track asthma absences, a method of employing existing datasets is reviewed comparing prevalence across major national and state-level surveys. These data are employed to estimate prevalence, absences, and lost revenues across school districts. Data are presented for the 20 largest and five smaller districts. A methodology for estimating absences and lost revenues is presented.

Results and Conclusion: Employing this methodology, statewide, 14% of students with asthma account for over 1.4 million days of school absence and over $43 million dollars in lost revenues to districts. Using an ecological analysis at the school level, for both Middle and High Schools, • Asthma diagnosis rate, poverty, and ethnicity account for 69% (Middle Schools) and 35% (High Schools) of the variability in school-level academic scores. • Asthma diagnosis, poverty, and ethnicity are all statistically significant. These data underline the importance of implementing school policies and programs to ameliorate the effects of asthma on those populations most severely affected. Model programs are reviewed that have been successful in reducing asthma exacerbations.