Asthma Hospital Admissions
Summary Indicator Report Data View Options
Asthma Hospital Admissions: Age-Adjusted Rates Per 10,000 Population by County, New Mexico, 2017-2021
Why Is This Important?
Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in New Mexico, with an estimated 175,000 adults and 30,000 children currently having the disease. People with asthma are more likely to miss school or work, report feelings of depression, and experience an overall reduced quality of life. Asthma is also costly, with expenses from routine checkups, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and medications putting a significant burden on families, the health care sector, and the economy. Though it cannot be cured, asthma can be controlled through quality health care, appropriate medications, and good self-management skills. When asthma is controlled, people with the disease have few, if any, symptoms, and can live normal and productive lives. Admission date is used in order to bring healthcare event and outcome closer to event(s) related to trigger or cause of condition.
Definition
An asthma hospitalization is an admission to the hospital by a New Mexico resident that occurs in state with asthma listed as the primary (first-listed) diagnosis. Asthma hospitalizations include those with ICD-9 codes 493.0-493.92 and ICD-10-CM J45 after 10/2015.
Data Sources
- New Mexico Population Estimates: University of New Mexico, Geospatial and Population Studies (GPS) Program.
(http://gps.unm.edu/) - Hospital Inpatient Discharge Data, New Mexico Department of Health.
How the Measure is Calculated
| Numerator: | Admission: Number of hospital admissions where asthma is the primary (first-listed) diagnosis. Discharge:Number of hospital discharge where asthma is the primary (first-listed) diagnosis. |
| Denominator: | Estimated total number of New Mexico residents in a specified population over a specified time period. |
How Are We Doing?
New Mexico age-adjusted hospitalization rates have remained somewhat steady since 2000, until 2015 where a continued decrease has been observed. There was a 47% decrease in ED visits from 2019-2020. This is likely due to changes in environment and behavior caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, trends from data collected in 2020 should be interpreted with caution.
How Do We Compare With the U.S.?
The National Environmental Public Health Tracking (NEPHT) program developed consistent methods for collecting data and reporting results so that participating states may compare asthma measures, see version 3.0 (https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/docs/CDC_NCDM_v3.pdf) and the EPHT How-to-Guide for Data Submission: Asthma Hospitalizations, July 2018. The New Mexico Department of Health collects patient record level data from all individual non-federal licensed facilities in the state. The U.S. hospitalization rate is estimated using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.
What Is Being Done?
The New Mexico Department of Health Asthma Control Program collects, analyzes, and disseminates asthma data in order to identify populations that have high hospitalization rates. The Asthma Control Program also works with partners throughout the state (such as hospitals, physician groups, insurance plans, and schools) to design and implement health interventions to lessen the disease burden. Current interventions include providing asthma self-management education to pediatric patients, supporting indoor air quality assessments of schools to limit exposures to potential asthma triggers, and offering provider training on the NAEPP asthma medical guidelines.
Other Objectives
CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking, Nationally Consistent Data and Measures (EPHT NCDM)
Available Services
The New Mexico Asthma Control Program, funded entirely through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control, supports health intervention activities aimed at increasing asthma awareness in the state, improving asthma self-management through patient education initiatives, and providing health care provider training on the latest National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Asthma Guidelines for medical practice. For more information about the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program's (NAEPP) Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma, go here: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/asthma/.
More Resources
http://www.nmhealth.org/eheb/asthma.shtml https://nmtracking.org/health/breathing/Asthma.html
Health Program Information
Asthma Control Program, New Mexico Department of Health, P.O. Box 26110, 1190 St. Francis Drive, Suite N1300, Santa Fe, NM 87505. Srikanth Paladugu, MBBS, MPH, MBA, Environmental Health Epidemiology Bureau Chief, (505) 476-3549 (M,W,F); (505) 841-5893 (T,Th), Paladugu, Srikanth, DOH <Srikanth.Paladugu@state.nm.us>.