In Arizona, Asthma Highest in Tucson and Phoenix, COPD Highest Near State Borders

In Trelegy, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

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By: James Pitt Jul. 19, 2018

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are two of the most common lung disorders in the United States. Differential diagnosis can be a challenge. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians guidelines on distinguishing asthma from COPD, asthma generally has earlier onset, more variable symptoms, and normal chest X-ray. Many options for diagnosis and treatment are available, including recently developed digital health tools.

Asthma and COPD share many risk factors, including secondhand smoke and air pollution. Dexur has previously reported on associations between COPD and population density in Connecticut and asthma and urbanization in Mississippi.

In this study, Dexur analysts examined rates of asthma and COPD at the 30 largest hospitals in Arizona. Though asthma and COPD have common risk factors, they showed different geographic incidence patterns.

COPD rates trended higher at the periphery of the state, peaking at 40.65% of total discharges at Kingman Regional Medical Center (Kingman, AZ). Asthma rates trended higher towards the center of the state, including 10.45% at Banner Estrella Medical Center (Phoenix, AZ).

Asthma, Air Quality, and COPD

The highest asthma rate was at 11.76% at Tucson Medical Center (Tucson, AZ). The relatively high rates of asthma in the Phoenix metropolitan area and in Tucson are consistent with the well-studied relationship between asthma and urbanization.

There was no relationship between asthma discharges and COPD discharges, after controlling for total discharges. COPD was more common than asthma at every hospital except Southwest Orthopedic and Spine Hospital (Phoenix, AZ), where 4.84% of discharges involved COPD and 7.96% of discharges involved asthma.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Pitt

James Pitt is a science writer with experience in medical devices and textbook publishing. His hobbies include reading, flintknapping, and squinting at RStudio. He received a bachelor's in Human Evolutionary Biology from Harvard.