Asthma among California's children, adults and the elderly: a geographic look by legislative districts.

Asthma is a chronic lung condition characterized by wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and nighttime or early morning coughing; it has been on the rise in the United States over the past two decades. In California, about three million children and adults who have ever been diagnosed with asthma also experienced asthma symptoms at least once in 2002. This policy brief provides data for California legislative districts to highlight the variation in asthma symptom prevalence for children and adults across the state. Asthma symptom prevalence rates at the district level are estimates created by a small-area methodology, based on rates from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001) that are applied to population data from the 2000 Census and 2002 California Department of Finance. This first-of-its-kind sub-county data are relevant for policy makers, advocates, and medical providers to illuminate the problem of asthma throughout California and within local communities.