Calculations of race-specific rates were limited to blacks and whites because numbers for other races were too small to enable estimation of stable rates. The death rates for asthma were higher among blacks than whites. This ratio increased to 10 in 1994 in Illinois. Changes in both prevalence and severity of asthma could affect mortality. The higher overall rate of asthma mortality and the wider gap between the rates for blacks and whites in Illinois than in the United States primarily were because of the high death rate for blacks rather than a lower death rate for whites.
Additional study is needed to determine reasons for the race-specific differences in the rates.
State and territorial public health agencies have a critical role in the surveillance and prevention of asthma morbidity and mortality. Table of Contents References 1. Sears MR, Rea HH, de Boer G, et al. National Institutes of Health. Marder D, Targonski P, Orris P, Persky V, Addington W. Effect of racial and socioeconomic factors on asthma mortality in Chicago.