Indiana Asthma Report - Update

The Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana Joint Asthma Coalition (InJAC) are pleased to bring you The Burden of Asthma in Indiana: Second Edition, March 2008. The report is available online at http://www.in.gov/isdh/programs/asthma/pdfs/IndianaBurden.pdf; it is a detailed account of asthma in Indiana and how it is affecting people in the state. The report is an update to The Burden of Asthma in Indiana, 2004.

Key findings from the report include:

In 2005, according to the Indiana BRFSS,

• 380,000 adults (8.2%) currently have asthma
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• 140,000 children (8.4%) currently have asthma
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• Current asthma prevalence was significantly higher among adult females, adults with less than a high school education, and adults with an annual household income less than $15,000
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• In the past 12 months among adults with current asthma, 50% experienced an asthma episode or attack and 40% had not had a routine checkup for asthma
• One third of adults with current asthma were current smokers

In 2005, asthma accounted for 8,302 hospitalizations, 24,320 emergency department visits, and 85 deaths in Indiana.

Indiana has met Healthy People 2010 Objectives for asthma hospitalizations among children under 18, the asthma mortality rate for individuals 65 years and older, and asthma ED rates for age groups 5-64 and > 65.

New additions to the report include:

• Data from the BRFSS Adult Asthma History module (Appendix B) and Childhood Asthma Prevalence module
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• Emergency department (ED) data, including number of visits and rates
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• The state’s hospitalization data, including ED visits, and mortality data are compared to the Healthy People 2010 objectives on asthma

Thank you,
Marcie L. Memmer, MPH, CHES
Program Director
Chronic Disease/Asthma Program
Indiana State Department of Health
2 North Meridian Street, 6B
Indianapolis, IN 46204
P: 317-233-7299
F: 317-233-7805
mmemmer@isdh.in.gov