Development of a prototype system for statewide asthma surveillance.
OBJECTIVE
We developed and evaluated a statewide and community-level asthma surveillance system.


METHODS
Databases and measures included a community prevalence survey, hospital admissions data, emergency department/outpatient clinic visit records, and a physician survey of diagnosis and treatment practices. We evaluated the system in 5 Maine communities varying in population and income.


RESULTS
Asthma hospitalizations were high in the rural/low-socioeconomic-status communities studied, although diagnosed asthma was low. Males were more likely than females to experience asthma symptoms, although they were less likely to have been diagnosed with asthma or to have used hospital-based asthma care.


CONCLUSIONS
Databases were useful for estimating asthma burden and identifying service needs as well as high-risk groups. They were less useful in estimating severity or in identifying environmental risks.
Deprez
Ronald D
RD
Public Health Research Institute, Portland, Me 04101, USA. rdeprez@phrg.com
Asdigian
Nancy L
NL
Oliver
L Christine
LC
Anderson
Norman
N
Caldwell
Edgar
E
Baggott
Lee Ann
LA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008281:Maine / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors