Association of asthma mortality with medical specialist density.
In 1980, rates of death from asthma at 5 to 34 years of age varied from .105 per 100,000 in the East North Central States to .271 in the Mountain States for whites and from .637 in the South Atlantic States to 1.343 in the Middle Atlantic States for blacks. In order to investigate possible relationships between availability of physicians and care for patients with asthma, we determined regional densities of medical specialists in allergy and immunology, emergency medicine, family practice, internal medicine, and pediatrics as listed by the Directory of Medical Specialists. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that asthma mortality was increased in areas that had more medical specialists, even after adjustment for size of the regional area. Inadequate numbers of medical specialists do not account for higher asthma mortality rates in some regions.
Sly
R M
RM
Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC.
O'Donnell
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000486:Allergy and Immunology; D001249:Asthma / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality*; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008873:Mid-Atlantic Region; D009026:Mortality; D009511:New England; D015144:Southeastern United States; D044465:White People; D000078329:Workforce; D001741:Black or African American