Health Indicator Report of Asthma Prevalence in Adults
Asthma is a serious personal and public health issue that has far reaching medical, economic, and psychosocial implications. People with asthma are more likely to miss school or work, report feelings of depression, and experience an overall reduced quality of life. Asthma is also costly, with expenses from routine checkups, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and medications putting a significant burden on families, the health care sector, and the economy. Though it cannot be cured, asthma can be controlled through quality health care, appropriate medications, and good self-management skills. When asthma is controlled, people with the disease have few, if any, symptoms, and can live normal and productive lives.
Asthma Prevalence Among Adults Aged 18 and Over by County, New Jersey, 2014-2016
NotesAll prevalence estimates are age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population (except for rates by age group).
Data SourceBehavioral Risk Factor Survey, Center for Health Statistics, New Jersey Department of Health, [http://www.state.nj.us/health/chs/njbrfs/]
Data Interpretation IssuesData for this indicator report are from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), an ongoing survey of adults regarding their health-related behaviors, health conditions, and preventive services. Data are collected in all 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories. Responses have been weighted to reflect the New Jersey adult population by age, sex, ethnicity, geographic region, marital status, education level, home ownership and type of phone ownership. The survey is conducted using scientific telephone survey methods for landline and cellular phones (with cellular since 2011). The landline phone portion of the survey excludes adults living in group quarters such as college dormitories, nursing homes, military barracks, and prisons. The cellular phone portion of the survey includes adult students living in college dormitories but excludes other group quarters such as military barracks and business owners. Beginning with 2011, the BRFSS updated its surveillance methods by adding in calls to cell phones and changing its weighting methods. These changes improve BRFSS' ability to take into account the increasing proportion of U.S. adults using only cellular telephones as well as to adjust survey data to improve the representativeness of the estimates generated from the survey. Results have been adjusted for the probability of selection of the respondent, and have been weighted to the adult population by age, gender, phone type, detailed race/ethnicity, renter/owner, education, marital status, and geographic area.
DefinitionAdults aged 18 and over, who reported having been told by a doctor that they have asthma and who currently have asthma.
NumeratorTotal number of respondents answering "yes" to both of the BRFSS asthma core questions: 1. Have you ever been told by a doctor, nurse, or other health professional that you had asthma? 2. Do you still have asthma?
DenominatorIncludes all survey respondents ages 18 years and older except those with missing, don't know, or refused answers to the core asthma questions
How Are We Doing?In 2017, the adult asthma prevalence in New Jersey was 8.3%. Blacks (12.9%) and Hispanics (9.3%) have higher prevalence of asthma compared to Whites (8.2%) and Asians (3.7%) in the state. Adult asthma prevalence is higher for women than men in every age category.
How Do We Compare With the U.S.?In 2017, the New Jersey current adult asthma prevalence rate (8.3%) was slightly lower than the U.S. rate (9.0%).
What Is Being Done?[https://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/chronic/asthma/in-nj/] [https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/]
Page Content Updated On 05/13/2019, Published on 05/31/2019