Asthma Rates

Source: www.reuters.com --- 37 days ago
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The risk of developing Asthma is doubled in children who have suffered physical or sexual abuse, new research in Puerto Rico shows. ...

Source: www.moreover.com --- 15 days ago
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Source: www.emaxhealth.com --- 30 days ago
Even two or three years after 9/11 attacks people still suffer numerous physical and psychological health complications such as Asthma and PTSD. There was a study showing how deeply rescue workers suffer, but this study by New York City health department shows that general residents also suffered much. read more ...

Source: news.yahoo.com --- 4 days ago
Reuters - Asthma patients who are black tend to have more severe disease than Asthma patients who are white, leading to more Asthma control problems, higher Rates of emergency department visits, and overall worse quality of life. These findings point to genetic differences that lead to poor responses to drug therapy as the source of these racial disparities. ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 7 days ago
Related Articles Temporal trends in Asthma mortality over 30 years. J Asthma. 2008 Sep;45(7):611-4 Authors: López-Campos JL, Cayuela A, Rodríguez-Domínguez S, Vigil E BACKGROUND: Bronchial Asthma is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is limited availability of updated information on Asthma mortality trends. In this context, further investigation of Asthma mortality trends is necessary. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess trends in Asthma mortality trends in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia (over 7 million inhabitants), Spain, during the period 1975-2005. METHOD: Official population estimates and data on Asthma deaths were obtained from official authorities. Crude and age-adjusted death Rates for different age and gender groups were calculated. Joinpoint regression analysis was used for trend analysis. RESULTS: Age-adjusted death Rates for Asthma have fallen 2.9% for females and 7.7% for males from 1975 to 2005. This trend has not been constant but has varied during the study period. After a non-significant increase from 1975 to 1981 (4.5% for females and 3.8% for males), adjusted Asthma mortality Rates have been declining 3.7% for females and 9.6% for males (both p values < 0.05) since 1981. Age-group analysis revealed that the downturn in Asthma mortality Rates occurred in all age groups above 45 years for males and 35 years for females. CONCLUSIONS: During the last decades, significant variation in Asthma ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 7 days ago
Related Articles Modifiable risk factors for suboptimal control and controller medication underuse among children with Asthma. Pediatrics. 2008 Oct;122(4):760-9 Authors: Smith LA, Bokhour B, Hohman KH, Miroshnik I, Kleinman KP, Cohn E, Cortés DE, Galbraith A, Rand C, Lieu TA OBJECTIVES: Our aims were (1) to describe Rates of suboptimal control and controller medication underuse in a diverse population of children with Asthma and (2) to identify potentially modifiable parental behaviors and beliefs associated with these outcomes. METHODS: We conducted telephone interviews with parents of 2- to 12-year-old children with persistent Asthma, in a Medicaid plan and a large provider group. Suboptimal control was defined as >or=4 symptom days, >or=1 symptom night, or >or=4 albuterol use days in the previous 2 weeks. Controller medication underuse was defined as suboptimal control and parent report of <6 days/week of inhaled steroid use. Multivariate analyses identified factors that were independently associated with suboptimal control and controller medication underuse. RESULTS: Of the 754 study children, 280 (37%) had suboptimal Asthma control; this problem was more common in Hispanic children (51%) than in black (37%) or white (32%) children. Controller medication underuse was present for 133 children (48% of those with suboptimal Asthma control and 18% overall). Controller medication underuse was more common among Hispanic (44%) and black ( ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 8 days ago
Reduction in Asthma-related emergency department visits after implementation of a smoke-free law. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2008 Sep;122(3):537-41.e3 Authors: Rayens MK, Burkhart PV, Zhang M, Lee S, Moser DK, Mannino D, Hahn EJ BACKGROUND: Secondhand tobacco smoke increases the risk for the development and increasing severity of Asthma among adults and children. Reducing exposure to secondhand smoke decreases symptomatic exacerbations among patients with Asthma. Emergency department (ED) visits for Asthma were assessed before and after the implementation of smoke-free legislation in Lexington-Fayette County, Ky. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of a smoke-free law on the rate of ED visits for Asthma. METHODS: The study included ED visits for Asthma from 4 hospitals in Lexington-Fayette County, Ky. Age-adjusted Rates of Asthma ED visits were determined. Poisson regression analysis of ED visits from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2006 compared the ED visit Rates between prelaw and postlaw, adjusting for seasonality, secular trends over time, and differences among demographic subgroups. The actual Rates were graphed with the Poisson curve showing the Rates predicted by the model. A second prediction curve was generated to show the projected Rates in the postlaw period if the law had not been implemented. RESULTS: Adjusting for seasonality, secular trends, and demographic characteristics, ED visits for Asthma declined 22% from prelaw to ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 3 days ago
Related Articles Organizational Attributes of Practices Successful at a Disease Management Program. J Pediatr. 2008 Oct 2; Authors: Cloutier MM, Wakefield DB, Tsimikas J, Hall CB, Tennen H, Brazil K OBJECTIVE: To assess the contribution of organizational factors to implementation of 3 Asthma quality measures: enrollment in a disease management program, development of a written treatment plan, and prescription of severity-appropriate anti-inflammatory therapy. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 138 pediatric clinicians and 247 office staff in 13 urban clinics and 23 nonurban private practices completed questionnaires about their practice's organizational characteristics (eg, leadership, communication, perceived effectiveness, job satisfaction). RESULTS: 94% of the clinicians and 92% of the office staff completed questionnaires. When adjusted for confounders, greater practice activity and perceived effectiveness in meeting family needs were associated with higher Rates of enrollment in the Easy Breathing program, whereas higher scores for 3 organizational characteristics-communication timeliness, decision authority, and job satisfaction-were associated with both higher enrollment and a greater number of written treatment plans. None of the organizational characteristics was associated with greater use of anti-inflammatory therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Three organizational characteristics predicted 2 quality Asthma measures: use of a disease management pro ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 22 hours ago
Related Articles A comparison of objective and subjective measures of cough in Asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2008 Oct 6; Authors: Marsden PA, Smith JA, Kelsall AA, Owen E, Naylor JR, Webster D, Sumner H, Alam U, McGuinness K, Woodcock AA BACKGROUND: Cough is widely recognized as a key symptom in the diagnosis and the monitoring of Asthma, but little is known about how best to assess cough in Asthma. OBJECTIVE: To determine how objective cough Rates correlate with subjective measures of cough in Asthma. METHODS: We studied 56 subjects, median age 42.0 years (range, 28.5-71), 34 (60.7%) female, with Asthma. Subjects performed cough reflex sensitivity testing (concentration of citric acid causing 2 and 5 coughs [C2 and C5]), 24-hour fully ambulatory cough recordings, subjectively scored the severity of their cough (visual analog scales and 0-5 score) and completed a cough-related quality of life questionnaire (Leicester Cough Questionnaire). Ambulatory cough recordings were manually counted and reported in cough seconds per hour (cs/h). RESULTS: The median time spent coughing was 2.6 cs/h (range, 0.0-14.2), with subjects spending more time coughing by day (median, 3.9 cs/h [0.0-18.5]) than by night (median, 0.3 cs/h [0.0-8.7]; P < .001). A weak inverse relationship was seen between day cough Rates and log(10)C2 (r = -0.39; P = .03) but not log(10)C5 (r = -0.08; P = .65). Objective time spent coughing was also weak-moderately associated ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 1 day ago
Related Articles Effect of educational and policy interventions on institutional utilization of wet nebulization respiratory drugs and portable inhalers. Can J Clin Pharmacol. 2008;15(2):e334-43 Authors: Lowe DO, Lummis H, Zhang Y, Sketris IS BACKGROUND: Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment guidelines support the preferential use of portable inhalers (PIs) over wet nebulization (WN) respiratory therapy. Hospital- and community-based educational initiatives and a community-based provincial drug program policy change were previously implemented to promote the conversion of WN therapy to PI and spacer device use in Nova Scotia. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of these interventions on salbutamol, ipratropium bromide, and spacer device (Aerochamber) use at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre (QEII HSC). METHODS: We conducted a time-series analysis of drug utilization data from August 1998 to July 2005. We used two intervention phases compared to the pre-intervention phase to determine whether the educational and policy interventions were associated with significant changes in monthly drug and spacer device utilization Rates at the QEII HSC (1000-bed teaching hospital; Halifax, Nova Scotia). RESULTS: Salbutamol and ipratropium bromide PI use significantly increased in both intervention phases, compared to the pre-intervention phase. Mean (SD) defined daily doses/100 bed-days for salbutamol PI increased from ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 7 days ago
Related Articles Household smoking and childhood Asthma in the United States: a state-level analysis. J Asthma. 2008 Sep;45(7):607-10 Authors: Goodwin RD, Cowles RA BACKGROUND: The reason for the substantial geographic variation in the prevalence of childhood Asthma is not known. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between exposure to cigarette smoking in the home and childhood Asthma at the state-level, toward improving current understanding of geographic variation in childhood Asthma Rates. METHODS: Data were drawn from the National Children's Health Survey (NCHS, 2003), a representative sample (n = 102,000) of youth 0 to 17 years of age in the United States. Household smoking and Asthma in children were reported by parents. Air quality for each state was obtained from Environmental Protection Act (EPA) reports, and state-level poverty reports were obtained from the US Department of Agriculture. RESULTS: Household smoking was associated with a statistically significant increase in risk of Asthma among children at the state level (p = 0.026). This association did not appear to be influenced by outdoor air quality at the state level or socioeconomic position. CONCLUSIONS: These results are the first to show a link between cigarette smoking in the home and childhood Asthma at a state-level in the United States. PMID: 18773335 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 22 days ago
Related Articles Asthma management in general practice - A chronic disease health priority. Aust Fam Physician. 2008 Sep;37(9):710-4 Authors: Rudolphy S BACKGROUND: Asthma mortality Rates in Australia have declined over the past 20 years but are not low by international standards. Evidence based guidelines such as the National Asthma Council's Asthma management handbook, Enhanced Primary Care financial incentives, and practice recall infrastructure can be utilised in general practice to manage patients with Asthma. OBJECTIVE: This article provides an overview of Asthma management based on the National Asthma Council's Asthma management handbook. DISCUSSION: Asthma is one of the Australian Government's chronic disease health priorities. To promote ideal Asthma care and management, incentives such as the Asthma Cycle of Care, GP Management Plans and Team Care Arrangements have been instituted. However, trends in the use of these incentives must be maintained if we are to continue to reduce Australia's Asthma mortality rate. PMID: 18797528 [PubMed - in process] ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 26 days ago
Related Articles Seasonality of primary care utilization for respiratory diseases in Ontario: a time-series analysis. BMC Health Serv Res. 2008;8:160 Authors: Moineddin R, Nie JX, Domb G, Leong AM, Upshur RE BACKGROUND: Respiratory diseases represent a significant burden in primary care. Determining the temporal variation of the overall burden of respiratory diseases on the health care system and their potential causes are keys to understanding disease dynamics in populations and can contribute to the rational management of health care resources. METHODS: A retrospective, cross-sectional time series analysis was used to assess the presence and strength of seasonal and temporal patterns in primary care visits for respiratory diseases in Ontario, Canada, for a 10-year period from January 1, 1992 to December 31, 2002. Data were extracted from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan database for people who had diagnosis codes for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Asthma, pneumonia, or upper respiratory tract infections. RESULTS: The results illustrate a clear seasonal pattern in visits to primary care physicians for all respiratory conditions, with a threefold increase in visits during the winter. Age and sex-specific Rates show marked increases in visits of young children and in female adults. Multivariate time series methods quantified the interactions among primary care visits, and Granger causality criterion test showed that the respir ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 26 days ago
Related Articles Endemic Asthma inhaler abuse among antisocial adolescents. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2008 Jul 1;96(1-2):22-9 Authors: Perron BE, Howard MO BACKGROUND: Approximately 40 million prescriptions were dispensed in the U.S. for Asthma inhalers in 2006. Although the pervasive distribution of Asthma inhalers warrants greater attention to possible misuse of these products, few investigations have examined Asthma inhaler misuse. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence, correlates and consequences of Asthma inhaler misuse among antisocial youth. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey with face-to-face interviews assessing substance use, psychiatric symptoms, and antisocial behaviors among adolescents (N=723) in residential treatment. RESULTS: More than 26% (N=193) of youth were diagnosed with Asthma; 91.2% of asthmatic youth had received a prescription for an inhaler. Of the 373 youth who had used a prescribed or non-prescribed Asthma inhaler, 23.6% (N=88) reported using an inhaler to get high (i.e., were inhaler misusers). Asthma inhaler misusers had an earlier onset of antisocial conduct, significantly greater levels of current psychiatric distress and lifetime suicidality, higher Rates of lifetime substance use problems and volatile solvent abuse, and significantly higher levels of temperamental impulsivity and fearlessness than did inhaler non-users or users. Caucasian racial status, current level of psychiatric distres ...

Source: www.ajc.com --- 30 days ago
The nation is set to receive between 143 million and 146 million doses of flu vaccine this fall, a record amount that comes as the government is urging more children than ever to be inoculated. Each year, influenza causes 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The elderly, young children and people with chronic illnesses are at greatest risk for severe illness, but the CDC recommends that a wide variety of people get vaccinated: —All children between ages 6 months and 18 years, unless they have a serious egg allergy. Until now, flu vaccine was recommended for children under 5 or those with chronic illnesses such as Asthma. The expanded recommendation takes into account that healthy school-age children have higher Rates of flu than other age groups. ...

Source: www.ajc.com --- 30 days ago
Measles cases in the United States are rising, and parents who reject vaccination are shouldering much of the blame. Nearly half of the 131 cases so far this year involved unvaccinated children, including 25 home-schooled kids in Illinois. Health officials worry that as vaccination Rates decline, herd immunity is lost, increasing the chance of a mass disease outbreak. Some pediatricians, mean-while, are frustrated that they have to spend so much time convincing parents that vaccines such as the measles, mumps and rubella shot are safe. Questioning in itself is not a bad thing, especially since the Internet has ignited an information explosion, some of it inaccurate. It does, however, reflect a larger crisis of confidence in public health officials and policy, which has developed partly because so many new, seemingly unnecessary vac-cines have been added to the schedule and because no one can explain what causes, how to prevent or how to treat the new childhood disorders: Asthma, allergies, attention deficit disorder and autism. ...

Source: www.charlotte.com --- 20 days ago
Paul McCartney's ex-wife is donating $1 million worth of soy hamburgers, soy hot dogs and soy chicken cutlets to one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Bronx. Heather Mills is set to announce the donation just before the Hunts Point Back to School Fair kicks off Saturday afternoon. The vegan animal rights campaigner is an honorary chairwoman of the nonprofit that organizes the event. She tells the New York Post that she wants to make sure children in the neighborhood "have as many nutritional advantages as anyone else." Children in Hunts Point have some of the highest obesity and Asthma Rates in the city. Mills and McCartney were granted a divorce earlier this year. ...

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com --- 35 days ago
CMS on Wednesday announced that it has updated its Hospital Compare Web site to include information on 30-day mortality Rates for the pneumonia and inpatient Asthma treatment for children, ...

Source: www.charlotte.com --- 21 days ago
Paul McCartney's ex-wife is donating $1 million worth of soy hamburgers, soy hot dogs and soy chicken cutlets to one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Bronx. Heather Mills is set to announce the donation just before the Hunts Point Back to School Fair kicks off Saturday afternoon. The vegan animal rights campaigner is an honorary chairwoman of the nonprofit that organizes the event. She tells the New York Post that she wants to make sure children in the neighborhood "have as many nutritional advantages as anyone else." Children in Hunts Point have some of the highest obesity and Asthma Rates in the city. Mills and McCartney were granted a divorce earlier this year. ...

Source: www.sciam.com --- 4 days ago
The common ulcer-causing bug linked this summer to reduced Rates of childhood Asthma and allergies may also help protect adults against one type of cancer, according to a new analysis. Researchers report today in the journal Cancer Prevention Research that they found the stomach microbe Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) may help prevent a major form of cancer of the esophagus (the muscular tube that carries food and drink from the throat to the stomach).    [More] ...