ACCP PRESS RELEASE
For Release: October 23, 2000
Contact: Mike White, (703) 739-1363[email protected]
Jim Augustine, (703) 644-6824[email protected]
As of October 22, call (415) 905-1020
ASTHMA STUDIES REPORT INCREASING PREVALENCE IN INNER CITIES
Two new studies indicate that, in the inner city, the prevalence of asthma may be much higher than reported and many children don't realize they have the treatable disease, leading one researcher to call for mandatory testing.
The studies, one from New York and the other from Philadelphia, were presented today at CHEST 2000, the annual scientific and clinical meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians.
There are about 5,000 asthma-related deaths in the United States each year. People with asthma experience well over 100 million days of restricted activity annually, and the total annual costs of the disease are estimated at $11.3 billion.
Asthma affects approximately 15 million people in the United States, five million of whom are children. Nationally, it is estimated that more than seven percent of children now have the disease.
In New York, researchers reported a prevalence rate of diagnosed asthma at 18.5 percent among students at a city middle school who were between the ages of 11 and 15. Many of those without an asthma diagnosis still showed asthma-like symptoms. For example, 12.8 percent of the non-asthmatic group showed a history of wheezing within the previous 12 months; 15.9 percent reported chest tightness; 18.5 percent reported shortness of breath; and 14.1 percent reported coughing events more than once a week. Asthma was found in males at a much higher rate than in females. African-Americans represented 13.5 percent of the diagnosed group, but only 9.8 percent of the non-asthmatic group. Parental smoking history was also higher in the diagnosed group (37.8 percent vs 27 percent). Almost one- third of those diagnosed with asthma were not on medication, and 48.6 percent reported an emergency department visit or a hospitalization within the past year. School absenteeism was significantly higher among the diagnosed group, with 10.8 percent missing 10 days or more in a six-month period as compared to only 2.7 percent in the group without diagnosed asthma.
The New York researchers concluded that asthma among middle school children may be substantially higher than U.S. estimates and expressed concern about the level of under-diagnosed asthma. School absenteeism was a key feature in the study carried out in two Philadelphia middle schools. Although asthma has long been know to be associated with school absenteeism, it is not fully known how many of the high-absentees with asthma are aware of their condition.
Children in the 5th and 6th grades with 25 or more absences in the previous school year were screened for asthma. Diagnosis of asthma was determined by either self-reporting or by the presence of at least one of three recorded symptoms (wheezing on exertion, wheezing at night, and wheezing at rest). One hundred and seventy- six children with high absenteeism were compared to 404 children with low absentee rates. Self-reported asthma was found in 34.9 percent of those with high absenteeism compared to 25.2 percent of those in the low absentee group. Of those diagnosed by way of recorded symptoms, there were 48.3 percent of the high absentee group and 36.7 percent of the low absentee group. In this group, 48.3 percent of those with high absenteeism did not know they had asthma, whereas 51.9 percent of those in the low absentee group did not know they had the disease.
Speaking on behalf of his Philadelphia-based coinvestigators, Uzma Rana, MPH, School of Public Health, Hahnemann University, said, "the study indicates significantly higher asthma prevalence among high-absentee school children, about half of whom were not aware of having the disease. The high prevalence coupled with the unawareness," he said, "suggests the need for mandatory screening of this treatable condition."
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Reporters may get a copy of the full abstracts of these two studies (or any study being reported at CHEST 2000) by clicking onto http://www.abstracts-on-line.com/abstracts/accp/.
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