Iowa releases 5-year asthma plan

Implementing a statewide asthma surveillance system is among the goals for Iowa's new 5-year asthma plan.

Among the surveillance system's tasks would be to monitor trends in Iowa deaths related to asthma; track the prevalence of asthma among Iowans and analyze asthma in subpopulations, such as Medicaid enrollees, migrant farm workers, immigrant groups and by race and ethnicity.

According to the most recent Health in Iowa report, more than 200,000 Iowans have asthma, a condition that causes narrowing of the airways. Patients can develop wheezing and have shortness of breath, which can be life-threatening.

Having a statewide plan to address asthma - the first was developed in 2003 - is important to improve the health of Iowans with the disease, according to the health department.

The new plan includes education to decrease asthma environmental triggers, including cigarette smoke; developing a standardized curriculum for parents of children with asthma and improving an asthma-friendly environment in schools and after-school programs.

The state's asthma report showed that nearly 9 percent of Iowa students have asthma.

On average, about 9,800 emergency department visits are due to asthma every year and about 2,200 Iowans are hospitalized annually for asthma.

Those emergency visits, at 34 visits per 10,000 residents, are lower than the national average of 62 per 10,000, but are on the rise.

The report showed that asthma-related emergency hospital visits have increased an average of 2 percent each year for the past six years.

Children under 15 had the highest emergency visit rates, at 55 per 10,000.

The 2010-2015 Iowa Asthma Plan was developed in conjunction with the Iowa Asthma Coalition and led by the American Lung Association in Iowa.

For the full report, see:

http://www.idph.state.ia.us/hpcdp/common/pdf/asthma/asthma_in_iowa_plan.pdf