The age-related characteristics of adults with asthma who visited emergency departments in Korea from 2007 to 2012.

Background: Understanding the patterns of emergency department (ED) visits of patients with asthma is important for disease control and prevention of exacerbations.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of adult patients who visited EDs because of their asthma.

Methods: Patients with asthma, ages ≥19 years old, who visited 117 EDs throughout Korea between January 2007 and December 2012 were identified in the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) data base using the International Classification of Disease, 10th revision, codes J45 (asthma) and J46 (status asthmaticus).