FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 25, 2004) -- Asthma affects 9.5 percent of adults in Kentucky, 2 percent more than the national rate, according to a recent report on the prevalence of the chronic respiratory disease in the state.

Compiled by asthma experts and advocates for asthma sufferers, the report reveals still higher asthma rates among Kentuckians who are obese (11.7 percent) or who smoke (10.6 percent). It says children accounted for more than one-third of the 12,000 Kentucky residents hospitalized for asthma in 2000-2001.

The report, "Asthma in Kentucky: Laying the Foundation for a Statewide Strategy," contains the findings and recommendations of the Kentucky Asthma Partnership. Established in 2003 by the American Lung Association of Kentucky, the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville and the Kentucky Department for Public Health, the partnership represents the first coordinated statewide effort to better understand, prevent and manage the disease.

In announcing the report’s findings, Dr. James Holsinger, Jr., secretary of the Health and Family Services Cabinet, said the high occurrence of asthma in Kentucky, particularly among children, and the often manageable nature of the disease present a promising opportunity to affect positive change in the health status of many Kentuckians.

"Through education and promoting prevention strategies, Kentucky can make real progress toward reducing the impact of asthma on our state," Holsinger said. Advances in medical management and a greater understanding of how asthma reacts to environmental and behavior factors, can often transform asthma from a major health problem to a relatively minor annoyance, he said.

Cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke are among the known triggers of asthma attacks. The report notes that 363,000 Kentucky children are exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes and that smoking rates among Kentucky children exceed those for their age peers nationally-by 6 percent in high school and 4 percent in middle school.

Nationally and in Kentucky, asthma disproportionately affects blacks in urban communities and the poor, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report cites a CDC risk factor survey showing that 14.2 percent of blacks suffer from asthma, compared to 9.3 percent of whites, and that asthma affects 20 percent of persons with household incomes of less than $15,000.

The cost of asthma-related hospitalizations in Kentucky alone totaled more than $36 million in 2001, according to data compiled from Kentucky hospital discharge claims by the state Department for Public Health.

The price tag is much higher when all direct costs (for hospitalization, emergency room and physician services and medication) and indirect costs (for time lost from school and work as a result of asthma-related illness and death) are calculated. Citing data from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, the partnership reported that in 1998, asthma affected about 209,000 Kentuckians at an estimated total cost of $159 million.

The partnership offered recommendations for improving asthma tracking, education, treatment, management and policies. They include:

Barry Gottschalk, executive director of the American Lung Association of Kentucky, said that although asthma cannot yet be cured, it can be controlled with the right education and treatment. "Asthma demands the same level of commitment we give to diabetes, or hypertension or any chronic, yet treatable, disease." Gottschalk said "We can and must do more to lessen the tremendous burden" of asthma.

Copies of the report may be obtained from Tricia McLendon, Asthma Program Manager, 502-564-7996, patricia.mclendon@ky.gov <mailto:patricia.mclendon@ky.gov>; American Lung Association of Kentucky, 502-363-2652. (www.kylung.org).