For Immediate Release:
May 16, 2006

Contact:
Nanci Gonder
Office of Public Information
573-751-6062

New study shows many Missourians with asthma smoke, despite risks
Doctors urged to advise patients about the dangers of smoking

More than one quarter of Missourians with asthma continue to smoke even though smoking is a known trigger for asthma attacks, according to a new study by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The study also revealed that not all doctors are warning their asthma patients about the dangers of tobacco smoke.

About 28 percent of people with asthma smoked, compared to just over 26 percent of people without asthma, the study reported.

“We have known for many years that tobacco smoke is not healthy for anyone, but it is especially harmful to people with asthma,” said Peggy Gaddy, manager of the health department's Asthma Prevention and Control Program. “Exposure to smoke can cause people with asthma to have more frequent attacks, more severe symptoms, reduced lung function and more trips to the hospital emergency room.”

The Missouri study also reported that nearly 22 percent of people with asthma said they were regularly exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes. More than 36 percent said they were exposed to secondhand smoke in a vehicle, and nearly one in five reported that secondhand smoke was present in their workplace.

According to the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program, no person with asthma should smoke or be exposed to secondhand smoke. While this information is widely available, the Missouri study showed that about 30 percent of people who had asthma and had visited a doctor in the past year were not advised to stop smoking.

“It is vital that doctors advise their asthma patients to not smoke and to avoid secondhand smoke,” Gaddy said. “Health care providers should also make sure parents of children with asthma know how important it is to protect their children from tobacco smoke.”

The study recommended that asthma intervention programs should strengthen efforts to help asthma patients stop smoking.

Nationwide, asthma causes about 5,000 deaths and more than 500,000 hospitalizations annually.

The study, “Active and passive smoking among asthmatic Missourians: Implications for health education,” was published in Preventive Medicine and was authored by Shumei Yun, Amy Kelsey and Bao-Ping Zhu from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and Fungai Chanetsa from the Center for Health Care Quality and Department of Health Management at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine.

About 15,000 Missourians from across the state participated in the study.

More information about asthma in Missouri can be found at www.dhss.mo.gov/asthma/.