Emergency department visits and hospitalizations for respiratory disease on the island of Hawaii, 1981 to 1991.

This study examined trends in and patterns of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for respiratory disease on the island of Hawaii from 1981 to 1991. We found that emergency department visit rates and hospitalization rates for both asthma and COPD for 1987 to 1991 increased in all regions of the island in comparison with such rates for 1981 to 1986. Rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, but not asthma, were significantly higher in the high-exposure Kona side of the island than in the intermittent-exposure Hilo side of the island during 1983 and 1988 to 1990. We also found that during the weeks that winds were from the west, blowing volcanic air pollution toward Hilo, emergency department visits for asthma increased 15%. Some of the results of our study support the hypothesis that volcanic air pollution affects respiratory health on the island of Hawaii, while other results do not. Any future studies should include measurements of air pollutant levels.