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Clinical Investigations: AsthmaRace, Income, Urbanicity, and Asthma Hospitalization in California: A Small Area Analysis
Section snippets
Definition of Population at Risk
Since the nonelderly population comprises 93% of the asthma population nationwide,15 this asthma hospitalization analysis was restricted to California residents ≤64 years. Information on hospitalizations was obtained from the 1993 California Hospital Discharge file, maintained by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. This data set represents all of the 3.7 million discharges from acute care nonfederal general hospitals in California in 1993. Information used from
Statewide Analysis
In 1993, there were a total of 35,800 hospitalizations for asthma among individuals 0 through 64 years of age in California (Table 1). Approximately half (56.4%) of all asthma hospitalizations in California were among blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. The age-adjusted asthma hospitalization rate for blacks 0 to 64 years was 42.5/10,000, nearly four times as high compared with the age-adjusted rates for Hispanics (13.0/10,000), whites (10.3/10,000), and Asians (9.4/10,000). For blacks and
DISCUSSION
Asthma, a multifactorial disease associated with familial, infectious, allergenic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, and environmental factors, is one of the leading chronic diseases that afflicts children and young adults in the United States. The frequency and length of stay of asthma hospitalizations in California in 1993 were consistent with nationwide rates.18 The annual rate of asthma hospitalization in California was 13.4/10,000 compared with 17.0/10,000 in the United States. The average
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SAS/STAT user's guide, version 6
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