How Does Your Community Rank In Asthma Control?


Vol. 17 •Issue 7 • Page 22
How Does Your Community Rank In Asthma Control?

How does your community shape up in the nation’s asthma race? Maybe not as good as you think, according to some data released last week by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

That group, looking at asthma morbidity and mortality, air quality, smoking laws, inhaler access rules and the number of prescriptions and asthma specialists per capita, ranked the top 100 cities in America where asthma is a problem.

At the top of the list is Knoxville, Tenn., with the worst scores; and at the bottom, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Calif., with the best.

Here is how the cities stacked up.

1. Knoxville, Tenn.

2. Little Rick, Ark.

3. St. Louis, Mo.

4. Madison, Wis.

5. Louisville, Ky.

6. Memphis, Tenn.

7. Toledo, Ohio

8. Kansas City, Mo.

9. Nashville, Tenn.

10. Hartford, Conn.

11. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.

12. Johnson City, Tenn.

13. Allentown-Bethlehem, Pa.

14. Springfield, Mass.

15. Pittsburgh, Pa.

16. Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wis.

17. Chattanooga, Tenn.

18. Detroit, Mich.

19. Dayton-Springfield, Ohio

20. Indianapolis, Ind.

21. Columbus, Ohio

22. Fresno, Calif.

23. Wichita, Kans.

24. Harrisburg-Lebanon, Pa.

25. Lexington, Ky.

26. Albany-Schenectady, N.Y.

27. Philadelphia, Pa.

28. Greensboro-Winston Salem, N.C.

29. Oklahoma City, Okla.

30. Syracuse, N.Y.

31. Lansing-East Lansing, Mich.

32. Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Pa.

33. New York, N.Y.

34. Columbia, S.C.

35. Grand Rapids-Muskegon, Mich.

36. Birmingham, Ala.

37. Jackson, Miss.

38. Omaha, Neb.

39. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.

40. Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich.

41. Tulsa, Okla.

42. Cincinnati, Ohio

43. Des Moines, Iowa

44. Baltimore, Md.

45. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.

46. Charlotte-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.

47. Atlanta, Ga.

48. Canton-Massillon, Ohio

49. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

50. Washington, D.C.

51. Cleveland-Lorain, Ohio

52. Richmond-Petersburg, Va.

53. Albuquerque, N.M.

54. Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.

55. Rochester, N.Y.

56. Chicago, Ill.

57. Youngstown-Warren, Ohio

58. Fort Wayne, Ind.

59. Boston, Mass.

60. Augusta-Aiken, Ga.

61. Bakersfield, Calif.

62. Tucson, Ariz.

63. Las Vegas, Nev.

64. Charleston-North Charleston, S.C.

65. Modesto, Calif.

66. Mobile, Ala.

67. Lancaster, Pa.

68. Spokane, Wash.

69. Baton Rouge, La.

70. New Orleans, La.

71. Orlando, Fla.

72. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

73. Denver, Colo.

74. Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah

75. Colorado Springs, Colo.

76. Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.

77. Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Va.

78. Jacksonville, Fla.

79. Sacramento, Calif.

80. Austin-San Marcos, Texas

81. San Antonio, Texas

82. Stockton-Lodi, Calif.

83. Boise, Idaho

84. Providence, R.I.

85. Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.

86. McAllen-Edinburg, Texas

87. El Paso, Texas

88. Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.

89. Pensacola, Fla.

90. Fort Meyers-Cape Coral, Fla.

91. Houston-Galveston, Texas

92. San Diego, Calif.

93. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.

94. Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.

95. Seattle-Bellevue, Wash.

96. Portland, Oregon

97. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.

98. Dayton Beach, Fla.

99. Miami, Fla.

100. San Francisco-Oakland, Calif.

The organization compiled the list to bring attention of asthma to the general public and is working with the American Association of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology members to try to turn the situation around.

A recent consumer survey by AAFA showed that only 13 percent of the general public consider asthma a disease. Moreover, only 37 percent of asthmatics in the survey had heard of allergic asthma, when in fact more than half of all people with asthma have this distinct type.

For additional information, check on the AAFA Web site at www.AsthmaCapital.com or the AAAAI Web site at www.aaaai.org/allergicasthma.