Asthma's Impact on Chicago Children

Every time a Mobile C.A.R.E. Asthma Van pulls up at a Chicago school, our staff gets a firsthand look at asthma's impact on Chicago children and families.

The View from the Van

The door to the Mobile C.A.R.E. van opens, and in comes a young student with Mom, or Dad, or maybe Grandma. The staff hears about the sleepless nights, the trips to the ER, or maybe "that cough!" that just doesn't go away, or the day a parent had to miss work to nurse the child through another bad asthma attack.

Forty-five minutes later, the family heads out the door with information, medicine, and a pep talk: Control your asthma! Don't let asthma control your life!

Facts About Asthma in Chicago

Our preliminary data (and thank you letters from our clients) show that Mobile C.A.R.E. services work. But we still have a long way to go.

During the 15 years from 1980 to 1994, the self-reported asthma rate increased 75 percent in the United States.¹ And as the next data show, Chicago children and families have been particularly hard hit:

• Double Hospitalization Rate: The asthma hospitalization rate in Chicago is double the national average. ^2, 3
• Higher Than National Rates: In 1998 the percentage of Chicago residents who reported having had asthma in the past 12 months was approximately 33 percent higher for whites and 43 percent higher for blacks than the national average. ³
• High Childhood Rates: A Chicago survey ⁴ shows that asthma rates among school-aged children are:
  • 24.4 percent for Puerto Ricans
  • 16.8 percent for African Americans
  • 12.9 percent for Whites
  • 9.2 percent for Mexicans

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Limited Access to Prevention

In Chicago, many children are not controlling their asthma as well as they could. How do we know this?

Children who have access to preventive care are able to avoid asthma triggers, and they take preventive medication daily. They recognize the warning signs of an asthma attack and take rescue medication early, before an attack becomes serious. And they see a doctor at least every six months to monitor and modify treatment. But a number of studies indicate many Chicago children are not currently using these asthma management strategies.

For example, the Asthma Atlas ⁵, published by the University of Chicago Asthma Center, analyzes data on Chicago children who have asthma and who are Medicaid recipients:

• Low Use of Preventive Medication: In roughly half of Chicago, only 30 to 50 percent of the children were using anti-inflammatory medication to prevent asthma attacks.
• Infrequent Doctor Consults: In roughly half of Chicago, fewer than 50 percent of the children saw a doctor twice a year.
• Frequent Asthma Hospitalizations: In roughly 25 percent of Chicago, there were 100 to 200 hospital admissions per year per 1000 children.

Mobile C.A.R.E. is working to change these statistics by providing Chicago children with better access to ongoing asthma care.

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1. Mannino et. al. "Surveillance for Asthma — United States, 1960-1995." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. CDC 1998. Posted at www.cdc.gov/
2. Mannino et. al. "Surveillance for Asthma — United States, 1980-1999." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. CDC 2002. As quoted at www.lungchicago.org/
3. National Health Interview Survey. 1998. Provided by Dr. Sandra Thomas, Chicago Department of Public Health, as quoted at www.lungchicago.org/
4. Dr. Victoria Persky, University of Illinois at Chicago. As quoted at www.lungchicago.org/
5. The University of Chicago Asthma Center. Chicago Asthma Atlas Posted at www.chicagoasthmaatlas.org/

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Web site created by Karleen Stevens McAllester
Photography by Deno J. Andrews