What is pediatric asthma?
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children. It is an illness that affects the respiratory tract and airways that carry oxygen into and out of the lungs. During an asthma attack, these airways constrict, resulting in wheezing and difficulty breathing.
Asthma can affect people of all ages. However, it often starts in childhood and is more common in children than adults. Causes of asthma are unknown.
Episodes of asthma (asthma attacks) can be triggered by certain environmental pollutants such as:
- Air pollution
- Mold
- Pets and pet dander
- Dust mites
A number of studies have reported links between exposure to air pollution and asthma. Reducing exposure to these pollutants can help prevent symptoms.
How does MA EPHT track pediatric asthma?
In 2002, the Massachusetts DPH's Bureau of Climate and Environmental Health (DPH/BCEH) was awarded a grant from the CDC. This grant funds tracking, or surveillance, activities for diseases related to the environment. Since then, DPH/BCEH has tracked pediatric asthma.
Pediatric asthma tracking is the ongoing collection of asthma data of Massachusetts' students each school year. Once collected, this data is also analyzed and interpreted. Data is collected through the use of school health records. An annual survey is used to collect the records. The survey collects records from approximately 1,800 schools serving Kindergarten through 8th grade.
Why does MA EPHT track pediatric asthma?
In Massachusetts, the rate of pediatric asthma is higher than the national average. We track pediatric asthma to learn how many cases there are in the state. We can also identify communities that may have more asthma than others. This enables us to plan targeted public health interventions.
In addition, there are large racial, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in asthma. Tracking pediatric asthma can help identify populations or areas with poor medical care. We can also monitor the burden of asthma and the effects of asthma on health-related quality of life.
What is the relationship between asthma and air pollution?
Acute asthma attacks can be triggered by indoor and outdoor air pollutants and allergens. Twenty percent of the U.S. population, or nearly 55 million people, spend their days in elementary and secondary schools. In the mid-1990s, studies showed that 1 in 5 of the nation's 110,000 schools reported unsatisfactory indoor air quality, and 1 in 4 schools reported unsatisfactory ventilation, which has an impact on indoor air quality. Indoor air allergens include things like mold. The outdoor air pollutants most commonly linked to asthma attacks are particulate matter and ozone. The U.S. EPA Air Quality Index (AQI) is an index for reporting daily air quality. The AQI tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you.
Available data
Use the Explore Pediatric Asthma Data link on this page to access the following measures:
- Pediatric asthma counts and prevalence in public, charter, and private schools
- Pediatric asthma counts and prevalence by geography. These measures are offered by community, county, EP Region, EOHHS Region, and statewide.
Prevalence is used to measure the amount of pediatric asthma in each school or community. Prevalence in schools is the percentage of students reported by school nurses to have asthma during a school year. Prevalence in communities is the percentage of students from that community that are enrolled in a Massachusetts school. These are also students reported by school nurses to have asthma during the school year.
School nurses gather this information from the student’s school health records. They also use physician reports and parent information forms. Pediatric asthma prevalence estimates are compared to statewide prevalence. Doing so shows if the prevalence is statistically higher, lower, or the same. In some instances, schools or communities may not be available when selecting data. This is because MDPH does not have data available for that school or community in the year selected.
The most current available data will be shown. Be sure to check the site periodically as new data are added each year. To protect privacy, no information is shown that could identify an individual.
Related links
Additional resources
Massachusetts
- DPH Bureau of Climate and Environmental Health - Asthma and your environment: Information, data and resources on how environmental factors can affect asthma.
- DPH Bureau of Community Health and Prevention - Asthma Prevention and Control Program: Information, data and resources on asthma.
- DPH Bureau of Community Health and Prevention - Occupational Health Surveillance Program: General information about work-related asthma triggers.
- Massachusetts Essential School Health Services Program: Ongoing school health service systems development and technical assistance to the Commonwealth’s 351 public school districts
National
- Allergy & Asthma Network-Mothers of Asthmatics: Information about living with a child with asthma
- American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology: General information about asthma and allergies
- American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology: General information about asthma and information about where to find an allergist
- American Lung Association: Information about a variety of lung diseases and ailments
- Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, New England Chapter: Asthma services in New England