Emergency department visits for asthma: the role of frequent symptoms and delay in care.

Background: Use of the emergency department (ED) for asthma care is a costly form of health care that is largely preventable. However, little is known about how to reduce the number of people using the ED for asthma care.

Objective: To identify modifiable factors related to ED visits for asthma among a diverse nonelderly adult population.

Methods: This study used cross-sectional data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey. A total of 4,359 adult respondents ages 18 to 64 years who reported being diagnosed as having asthma and experiencing symptoms in the past year were included. Any ED visits due to asthma in the previous 12 months among all nonelderly respondents with asthma, with stratification by those with daily or weekly symptoms and with less frequent symptoms, were examined.

Results: Adults with daily or weekly asthma symptoms, with fair or poor health status, and who delayed care for asthma because of cost or insurance issues were more likely to visit the ED for asthma. Stratification of the study population into those with daily or weekly symptoms and those with less frequent symptoms revealed that delay in care due to cost or insurance issues and fair or poor health status remained significant for both groups. Latinos and women were more likely to visit the ED in the severe asthma group, whereas Asian, African American, and uninsured adults were more likely to visit the ED in the group with less severe asthma.

Conclusions: Results suggest that to prevent ED visits for asthma, it is important to control asthma symptoms. However, it is equally if not more important to reduce delays in receiving asthma care.