Demographic Influences on Asthma Hospital Admission Rates in New York City

Surveillance reports describe an increase in asthma prevalence, and cite New York City as an area of excessive asthma mortality. To assess trends and the influence of geography, race, and ethnicity on hospital admission rates for asthma between 1989 and 1991, data of all admissions for asthma to New York City hospitals were reviewed. The average citywide annual hospital admission rate was 681 per 100,000 population, and the racial and ethnic distribution was 1,003 per 100,000 Hispanic patients, 810 per 100,000 for blacks, and 242 per 100,000 for whites (p