Skip directly to searchSkip directly to the site navigationSkip directly to the page's main content

Poorly Controlled Asthma Among Adults with Asthma by Sex, New Jersey, 2013-2016

Indicator Report Data View Options

Why Is This Important?

Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the lungs. It bears important medical, economic, psychosocial, and public health implications. Uncontrolled asthma is associated with an increased risk of adverse asthma outcomes, significantly decreased quality of life, and increased health care use^[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7232/ 1]^. Asthma can be controlled by adhering to control medicine and avoiding the triggers that can cause an attack.

Definition

Level of asthma control is measured in accordance with the recommendations of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program's Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR-3): Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2007). ("Poorly controlled asthma" as defined here is consistent with the combination of the two categories " not very well controlled" and "very poorly controlled" defined in EPR-3.) This hybrid outcome measure captures the frequency and intensity of the onset of asthmatic symptoms that impose functional limitations on daily activities: the number of symptom days per week, the number of nighttime awakenings per month, whether asthma limits the normal activity, and the frequency of use of short-acting beta agonists for symptom control (rather than prevention of exercise-induced bronchospasm).

Data Notes

  • Data have been age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population.
  • *Prevalence estimates are age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population.

Data Source

Asthma Callback Supplement, Behavioral Risk Factory Survey, Center for Health Statistics, New Jersey Department of Health
(https://www.nj.gov/health/chs/njbrfs/)

How the Measure is Calculated

  • Numerator:

    Estimated number of adults 18 years of age or older with poorly controlled asthma based on the weighted number of survey respondents who reported 1) having had asthma symptoms on at least nine of the past 30 days and/or 2) having had nighttime awakenings on at least three of the past 30 days and/or 3) limiting usual activities at least to some extent during the past 30 days and/or 4) having used short-acting beta agonists for symptom control for an average of more than 2 days per week over the past three months.
  • Denominator:

    Estimated number of adults 18+ who currently have asthma, based on the weighted number of adults who responded "Yes" to both questions: "Has a doctor or other health professional EVER told you that you had asthma?" "Do you still have asthma?"

Data Issues

Data from the New Jersey Behavioral Risk Factor Survey's Asthma Callback Supplement are intended to be representative of all non-institutionalized adult residents of New Jersey. Due to resource issues, however, adults with limited personal access to phone service or limited command of either English or Spanish are not represented. As with all surveys, some error results from nonresponse (e.g., refusal to participate in the survey or to answer specific questions), and faulty measurement (e.g., responses affected by social desirability or recall error). Data collection procedures intended to minimize such errors include the use of strict calling protocols, good questionnaire design, standardization of interviewer behavior, interviewer training, and frequent, on-site interviewer monitoring and supervision. Statistical weighting procedures are also used to minimize the potential impact of disproportionate representation of demographic subgroups defined in terms of age, sex, race, ethnicity, education level, marital status, home ownership, and county of residence. (See also [[a href="query/BRFSSQueryTechNotes.html" Behavioral Risk Factor Survey Data Description and Technical Notes]].)

Relevant Population Characteristics

Poor asthma control among adults is associated with '''low income''' and '''low educational attainment'''^1^. 1. Zahran HS, Bailey CM, Qin X, Moorman JE (2015). Assessing asthma control and associated risk factors among persons with current asthma: findings from the child and adult Asthma Call-back Survey, Journal of Asthma, 52:3, 318-326.

Related Health Care System Factors Indicators:

Risk Factors

Among adults, uncontrolled asthma is associated with being a '''current or former smoker''', being '''obese''', and having '''chronic obstructive pulmonary disease''' or '''depression'''.^1^ Also, '''work-related''' asthma is associated with poorer asthma control than non-work-related asthma.^2^ 1. Zahran HS, Bailey CM, et al. (2015). Assessing asthma control and associated risk factors among persons with current asthma: findings from the child and adult Asthma Call-back Survey, ''Journal of Asthma'', 52:3, 318-326. 2. Dodd KE, Mazurek JM (2018). Asthma medication use among adults with current asthma by work-related asthma status, Asthma Call-back Survey, 29 states, 2012-2013, ''Journal of Asthma'', 55:4, 364-372.

Related Risk Factors Indicators:

Related Health Status Outcomes Indicators:

Health Topic Pages Related to: Poorly Controlled Asthma Among Adults with Asthma

Indicator Data Last Updated On 05/12/2020, Published on 06/12/2024
Chronic Disease Program, Division of Community Health, New Jersey Department of Health, Trenton, NJ 08625 (https://nj.gov/health/fhs/chronic/)