Epidemiology of Asthma and Applying Evidence-based Science for Asthma Control

A snapshot of the epidemiology of asthma shows that this disease is still increasing in the United States; asthma prevalence rose from 1 in 14 people (about 20 million) in 2001 to 1 in 12 people (about 25 million) in 2009. Even with the current improvements in asthma care due to advances in asthma research and dissemination, much remains to be done with 1.75 million emergency department visits, 456,000 hospitalizations, and nearly $16 billion in direct medical costs each year attributable to uncontrolled asthma. In addition, asthma disparities persist, particularly in African American and Puerto Rican communities. The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program's (NAEPP) National Asthma Control Initiative (NACI), coordinated by the National Health, Lung, and Blood Institute, funded 28 projects to put science-based interventions into practice and evaluate their effectiveness. This session will present outcomes and lessons learned from their experiences in advancing best practices, including six priority NAEPP-recommended actions. Projects include clinician maintenance of certification and training in guidelines-based care, spirometry, communication, and cultural competency; EMRs and decision-support tools; patient education, home visits, and environmental assessments; and school, childcare, and community health worker interventions. Participants will be able to identify the six priority NAEPP-recommended actions for asthma control and to apply NACI tools and lessons learned to improve the capacity of the public health workforce to address asthma. They will also be able to discuss the latest asthma epidemiology, how the NAEPP interventions were applied in the field, and how to incorporate lessons learned to their own programs and policies.