Asthma statistics puzzle health officials
Now they're wondering how genetics and environment interact in development of the breath-stealing condition.
They found, for instance, that while the state's average asthma rate for children, measured from 2003-2006, is 8.5 percent, the rates are much higher in Woods Cross/North Salt Lake (16.2 percent), Riverdale (15.8 percent), Glendale (13.1 percent), downtown Salt Lake (13 percent) and South Ogden (12.9 percent).
And the rates are considerably below that average in Bountiful (3.1 percent), Provo South (3.6 percent), Utah County South (4 percent), Lehi/Cedar Valley (4.2 percent) and North Orem (4.6 percent).
"That's a big range," said Libbey Chuy, health program specialist in the state's asthma program, "but with asthma there are so many unknowns. The cause is unknown. We know it runs in families. We also know environment filters into causing it."
They plan further analysis to determine whether the differences are statistically significant or if there are other factors that might account for it.
More confounding still is the fact that the area with the highest rate, North Salt Lake/Woods Cross, borders the portion of the state with the lowest rate, Bountiful. "We can't figure that out," Chuy said. "They're next-door neighbors."
Health officials believe genomics — the interaction of genes with the environment — is at play. But how? That's a question they hope to examine during a half-day asthma workshop June 7, hosted by the Utah Asthma Task Force at the Cannon Health Department, 288 N. 1460 West, in Salt Lake City. The conference is free and the public is invited, but online registration is required at /health.utah.gov/asthma/genomicsworkshop.html. Karen Smith of North Salt Lake is convinced genomics come into play for her three children, now adults, who have asthma. That three of them have the condition says to her it's part genetic. And she's seen the havoc that visiting her home wreaks on their lungs. She wonders what role, if any, nearby refineries and other industries and their emissions may have. But she admits she has more questions than answers. Health officials had previously brokeninformation down by local health districts, but found that people were interested in smaller areas, so they drilled down to neighborhood and city levels, where possible, based on population. Some rural areas are still rated according to health-district boundaries. But in urban areas, they were able to look much more closely at location and disease rates.
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