asthma in washington, dc adults

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District of Columbia ASTHMA IN OLDER ADULTSDATA FACT SHEET

Asthma is a chronic health condition that causes inflammation and swell-

ing of the airways. Characteristic symptoms of asthma include: wheezing,

coughing, difficulty breathing, and tightening of the chest. Asthma contin-

ues to be a public health concern in older adults.

Some triggers of asthma symptoms are: pollen, dust, mold, cold air, viral

infections, chemicals in the air, and cigarette smoke (including secondhand

smoke). Asthma can be a life threatening illness, and so far there is no cure.

Appropriate self care and medical treatment, including proper use of

medications and environmental changes, can eliminate most of the activity

limitations, asthma episodes or flare-ups, and urgent care costs associated

with asthma.

ASTHMA PREVALENCEData on the proportion of older adults in the District of Columbia who

have asthma at a specific point in time (prevalence) was calculated using

data from a standardized questionnaire - the Behavioral Risk Factor

Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. Asthma prevalence was grouped into

lifetime and current asthma. Lifetime asthma estimates the proportion of

the population who answered “yes” to the question, “Has a doctor ever

told you that you have asthma?” Current asthma is estimated as the proportion of the population who an-

swered “yes” to the question, “Do you still have asthma?”

Figure 1: Asthma prevalence among older adults(55+ yrs) in the District of Columbia, 2005-2007

Government of theDistrict of ColumbiaAdrian M. Fenty, Mayor

87 8

1212 12

0

5

10

15

20

2005 2006 2007

P e r c e n t ( %

)

Lifetime

Current

Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surv eillance System (BRFSS)

Lifetime Asthma: In 2007, about 12% of District

residents 55 years or older had lifetime asthma. The

rate of older adults who have lifetime asthma hasremained the same from 2005 to 2007 (Figure 1).

Current Asthma: In 2007, about 8% of District

residents over the age of 54 years currently had

asthma. The prevalence rate of asthma among older

adults who report having asthma currently has not

changed from 2005 to 2007 (Figure 1).

Figure 2: Asthma prevalence among older adults(55+ yrs) by gender in the District of Columbia, 2007

5

10

88

15

12

0

5

10

15

20

Male Female Total

P e r c e n t ( %

)

Lifetime

Current

Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System(BRFSS)

Lifetime Asthma: More District women over

the age of 54 (15%) were reported to have lifetime

asthma than men (8%) in 2007 (Figure 2).Current Asthma: Twice as many District

women over the age of 54 (10 %) were reported as

currently having asthma than men (5%) in 2007

(Figure 2).



Figure 3: Asthma prevalenceamong older adults (55+ yrs) by age-group

in the District of Columbia, 2007

8

9

65

13 13

109

0

5

10

15

20

55-64 65-74 75-84 85+

P e r c

e n t ( %

)

Lifetime

Current

Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Sys tem(BRFSS)

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DATA FACT SHEET 2009 ASTHMA IN OLDER ADULTS PAGE 2

Lifetime Asthma: In 2007, District residents 55 to

74 years old had the highest lifetime asthma preva-

lence rate among the District’s older adult population

(Figure. 3).

Current Asthma:

In 2007, among the District’solder adult population, residents 65 to 74 years old

had the highest current asthma prevalence rate (9%)

followed by residents 55 to 64 years old (8%)

(Figure 3).

Figure 4: Asthma prevalenceamong older adults (55+ yrs) by race/ethnicity


7

8

4

7

1312

6

12

0

5

10

15

20

White Black Hispanic Total

P e r c e n t ( %

)

Lifetime

Current

Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

Lifetime Asthma: In 2007, about 13% of non-

Hispanic white, 12% of non-Hispanic black, and 6% of

Hispanic older adults had asthma in their lifetime. The

lifetime asthma prevalence for non-Hispanic black and

white District older adults is double the lifetime

asthma as compared to those in the Hispanic popula-

tion (Figure 4).

Current Asthma: In 2007, about 8% of non-

Hispanic black, 7% of non-Hispanic white and 4% of

Hispanic older adults experienced current asthma.

About twice as many non-Hispanic black and white

older adults had current asthma as compared to the

Hispanic population (Figure 4).

Figure 5: Asthma prevalenceamong older adults (55+ yrs) by Ward


10

12

9

22

9

57

10

78 8

1212

8

13

16

0

5

10

15

20

25

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Ward

P e r c e n t ( %

)

Lifetime

Current

Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surv eillance System (BRFSS)

Lifetime Asthma: In 2007, older adults living in

Ward 8 (22%) had the highest lifetime asthma preva-

lence rate followed by Ward 4 (16%). Ward 2 (8%) hadthe lowest lifetime asthma prevalence rate (Figure 5).

Current Asthma: In 2007, older adults living in

Ward 8 (12%) had the highest current asthma preva-

lence rate, followed by Ward 4 (10%) and Ward 1(9%).

Older adults in Ward 2 (5%) had the lowest lifetime

asthma prevalence rate (Figure 5).

Asthma Emergency Department VisitsEmergency department (ED) information below

includes visits among older adults over the age of 54

years with diagnoses of asthma. The ED data pre-

sented below includes only District residents that

visited hospital emergency departments in the District.

Figure 6: Asthma ED visit rateamong older adults (55+ yrs)

in the District of Columbia, 2005- 2007

161147

125

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

2005 2006 2007

R a t e ( p e r 1 0 , 0

0 0 )

Source: IMPACT DC

*Rates were age- adjusted using the US 2000 Census population




In 2007, the ED visit rate for older adults (55 +

years) living in the District was about 161 per 10,000

people (Figure 6).

The asthma ED visit rate for older adults (55 +

years) in the District increased by about twenty-nine

(29%) from 2005 (125 per 10,000 people) to 2007 (161

per 10,000 people) (Figure 6).

Figure 7: Asthma ED visit rateamong older adults (55+ yrs) by gender


161

116

193

0

50

100

150

200

250

Female Male Total

R

a t e (

p e r 1 0 , 0

0 0 )

Source: IMPACT DC

*Rates were age-adjusted using the US 2000 Census population

In the District, women (193 per 10,000 people)

over the age of 54 years had approximately a 66%

higher ED visit rate than their male counterparts (116

per 10,000 people) (Figure 7).

Figure 8: Asthma ED visit rateamong older adults (55+ yrs) by age-group


225

133

106

81

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

55-64 65-74 75-84 85+

R a t e

( p e r 1 0 , 0

0 0 )

Source: IMPACT DC

*Rates were age-adjusted using the US 2000 Census population

In 2007, the 55 to 64 year old population had the

highest (225 per 10,000 people) ED visit rate among the

entire older adult (55+ years) District population

(Figure 8). The ED visit rate decreased with increasing

age-group.

Figure 9: Asthma ED visit rate among older adults(55+ yrs) by zip code (with Ward boundaries overlaid


4

3 1 5

2 76

In 2007, the ED visit rate for asthma among the

District’s older adult population was highest at theintersection of Wards 1, 2, 5, and 6 (Figure 9).

The second highest asthma ED visit rates was

seen in parts of Wards 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8 (Figure 9).

Asthma HospitalizationData are reported by local acute care hospitals in the

District including one veterans hospital, but excluding

all military hospital facilities. Hospital discharge data

represent the number of inpatient hospitalizations, not

the number of individuals hospitalized. A person can

be hospitalized multiple times for the same condition.The information below represents hospitalizations for

a diagnosis of asthma of older adults over the age of 54

years residing in the District.

Figu atere 10: Asthma hospitalization ramong older adults (55+ yrs)

in the District of Columbia, 2002-2006

3431

32

38

33

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

R a t e

( p e r 1 0 , 0

0 0 )

Source: District of Columbia Hospital Association (DCHA)

*Rates wer e age-adjusted using the US 2000 Census population

8

Emercency Department Visit Rate(per 1 0 , 0 0 0 ) No Data10 -7575- 140140 - 205205 - 270270 - 335

WW

ata

errd

boB

diou

en

sdaries



Figure 13: Asthma hospitalization rate among olderadults (55+ yrs) by zip code (with Ward boundaries

overlaid) in the District of Columbia, 2002-2006

In 2006, the inpatient asthma hospitalization rate

due to asthma among adults over the age of 54 years

was 34 per 10,000 people (Figure 10).

The asthma hospitalization rate increased by 3%

from 2002 (33 per 10,000 people) to 2006 (34 per 10,000

people) among District older adults (55+ years)

(Figure 10).

Figure 11: Asthma hospitalization rateamong older adults (55+ yrs) by gender and race


25

40

7

42

34

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Male Female White Black Total

R a t e ( p e r 1 0 , 0

0 0 )



In the years 2002 to 2006, the asthma hospitaliza-

tion rate among the District’s older adult population

(55+ years) was highest at the intersection of Wards 1,

2, 5 and 6 (Figure 13).

The second highest asthma hospitalization rate

among older adults was in parts of Ward 8 (Figure 13).In 2006, the asthma hospitalization rate for

District women (40 per 10,000 people) over the age of

54 was about 60% higher than the hospitalization rate

for men (25 per 10,000 people) (Figure 11). The findings above confirm that in the District of

Columbia asthma affects about one in twelve older

adults. Non-Hispanic blacks experience current

asthma prevalence at rates 12.5% and 50% higher than

their non-Hispanic white and Hispanic older adult

peers. Older adult women visit local EDs for treatment

of asthma almost 40% more often than older men, and

likewise about 38% more hospitalizations occur amongolder women than older men. Equally significant is

the approximately 40% higher proportion of older

adults between the ages of 55 and 64 who receive

treatment at local EDs and hospitals as compared to

persons in older age-groups.

In 2006, the asthma hospitalization rate for non-

Hispanic black older adults (55+ years) was about 6

times higher (42 per 10,000 people) than hospitaliza-

tion among non-Hispanic white older adults (7 per

10,000 people) (Figure 11).

Figure 12: Asthma hospitalization rateamong older adults (55+ yrs) by age-group


21

32

3636

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

55-64 65-74 75-84 85+

R a t e ( p e r 1 0 , 0

0 0 )



In 2006, the asthma hospitalization rate among older

adults was the highest for the 55 to 64 and 65 to 74 year

old age-groups (36 per 10,000 people) population. The

hospitalization rate decreased with increasing age

(Figure 12).


8

35

2

4

76

1

Hospitalization ate(per10,000)No Data30- 100100 - 170170 - 240240 - 310310 - 380

WaterbodiesWardBoundaries

EW

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

DC Control Asthma Now (DC CAN)Community Health Administration, District of Columbia Depart-ment of Health, 825 North Capitol Street, NE, Third FloorWashington, DC 20002202-442-5925

We gratefully acknowledge the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, National Center for Environmental Health, Air Pollution,and Respiratory Health Branch for their continued support andfunding to the District of Columbia Department of Health AsthmaProgram. This publication was supported by CooperativeAgreement Number U59EH32408-05 from the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely theresponsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent theofficial views of the CDC.

asthma in washington, dc adults

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