Prevalence of Asthma in a Primary Care Setting

Asthma is a major health problem in the United States as stated by the National Institute of

Health, twenty- two million Americans have asthma, and nearly 1.8 million emergency room visits

a year is the result of an asthma flare-up. Tem million of people missed work days a year because of

asthma and the estimated cost are the healthcare is of $19 billion a year. Asthma is a major cause of

missed school days for children and parents to missed work because of their children. Many adults

and older children have several respiratory infection each year that may them visit the primary care

centers; those who suffers from asthma have exacerbation of his or her medical condition because

of this reason (Akinbani, 2010).

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the prevalence of asthma in the Hispanic population

and the importance of the recognition of risk factors for asthma symptoms, proper assessment,

and treatment in the primary care setting. In order to treat this population is crucial to know

their culture, believes, and practices to received their cooperation in the prevention and care of their

medical condition. Hispanic population traces their ancestry to countries that were previously under

Spanish rule, including Mexico, large part of Central and South American, and some Caribbean

islands. Many of the Hispanic have variable proportion of European, Amerindian, and African

ancestry. Peer-reviewed articles suggest that there is marked variation in the prevalence,

morbidity, and mortality of asthma in Hispanics in the United States and Hispanic America

(Akinbani, 2010). According to Akimbami, 2010, in his work posted in the Centers of Disease and

Control, there is an estimate of a 6% prevalence of Asthma among Hispanics. The marked

variation in the prevalence, morbidity, and mortality of asthma compare with other culture

groups (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Asthma prevalence, by selected demographic characteristics: United States, average annual 2008–2010. Retrieved October 11, 2014 from: http://www.cdc.gov Risk factors for asthma symptoms

There are many factors that contribute to the asthma crisis. Pollen, dust mites, pet dander,

indoor molds, pollution, cold air, tobacco smoke, and exercise are the most common triggers for an

asthma episode. Inadequate access to health care, lack of reference values for spirometric measures

of lung function in many subgroups, inappropriate use of antinflamatory and antibiotic medications,

are other contributed factors for the exacerbation of the asthma attack. It is important for those

patients to recognize what triggers the asthma episodes and recognize that there are severe

consequences of no receiving treatment on time including death (Arif & Delclos, 2005).

Education approach to help patients is aware of their risk Primary care providers agree that education and prevention programs about asthma are

designed to help healthcare providers manage asthma effectiveness by increasing focus on

achieving and maintaining good asthma control overtime. An appropriate therapy, disease control,

and appropriate referral to the severe cases is a good measure to adopt. It is important to educate

patients to recognize what triggers their asthma episodes to prevent the crisis and get them involve

in their management and treatment (Cloutier, 2008). Conclusion There are many factors that may result in under diagnose asthma in the Hispanic population. These factors include educational status of the general population, access to health care facilities, reluctant to medical providers, and fear of stigmatization of affected individuals. There is evidence in the searched articles that improving communication with these patients, facilitates their education, screening, and prevention of asthma in its consequences. A positive preventive measure is that patients have better access to healthcare facilities, improving their houses condition, and teaching them how to reduce the exposure to certain allergens and pollution would have a significant positive impact on asthma morbidity and mortality (Reibman & Liu, 2010). References Akinbami, L., M.D. (2010). Center of Disease Control and Prevention. "Trends in Asthma, Prevalence, Health Care Use and Mortality in the United States.
Arif, A., Rohrer, J., & Delclos, G. (2005). A population-based study of asthma, quality of life, and occupation among elderly Hispanic and non-Hispanic whites: a cross-sectional investigation. BMC Public Health, 597.
Cloutier, M. M. (2008). Considerations in Culturally Directed Asthma Disease Management
Programs. Disease Management & Health Outcomes, 16(2), 95.
Reibman, J., & Liu, M. (2010). Genetics and Asthma Disease Susceptibility in the US
Latino Population. Mount Sinai Journal Of Medicine, 77(2), 140-148.
doi:10.1002/msj.20171