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332581
Descriptive Epidemiology of Asthma Hospitalizations in Berkeley, California


Sunday, November 1, 2015

Jose Ducos, MD, MPH, City of Berkeley, Public Health Division, Berkeley, CA
Michelle Liu, Vital Statistics, City of Berkeley, Public Health Division, Berkeley, CA
Alvan Quamina, JD, PhD, MPH, Section Chief--Clinical Services, Epidemiology & Vital Statistics, City of Berkeley, Public Health Division, Berkeley, CA
Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease commonly affecting children and adults.  Asthma hospitalizations are preventable and can be used as measure of access to quality primary care and preventative outpatient care services.

Although all rates of asthma hospitalization have declined, the rates among children 0-4 year old and the population 65 years old and over are still higher than all other age groups. African Americans have the highest age-adjusted rates of asthma hospitalization among all racial/ethnic groups. African American residents are hospitalized 9 times as much as white residents in the past 8 years. However, hospitalization rates have greatly declined from 586 hospitalizations per 100,000 individuals per year in 2010 to 358 hospitalizations per 100,000 individuals per year in 2013.

Male children 0-14 years old had statistically higher hospitalization rates than female children in the same age group in 2008-2010 (p=0.02). However, while the rates for 2005-2007 and 2011-2013 are not statistically significant, this finding may still be useful in determining which populations have the highest asthma hospitalization rates. This finding is also consistent with other studies done on asthma and gender.3,4

This analysis demonstrates that although asthma hospitalization rates have continued to decline in the last 8 years in Berkeley, certain populations, either defined by location and/or demographics, still suffer disproportionate hospitalization rates compared to the overall population.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Diversity and culture
Epidemiology
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe the burden and trend of asthma hospitalizations in Berkeley, California Compare the burden and trend of asthma hospitalizations among different racial\ethnic groups in Berkeley, California Define population at continued risk of asthma hospitalizations Assess the reasons why asthma health disparities persist in Berkeley, California

Keyword(s): Asthma, Health Disparities/Inequities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have performed epidemiological analyses for the Berkeley Department of Public Health for almost two years. Some projects I have worked closely on are the Health Status Report 2013, a health asessment of Berkeley, tobacco use, impact of gentrification on determinants of health, and asthma hospitalizations in Berkeley.
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.

Back to: 2028.0: Poster Session - Clinical Epidemiology