Asthma in Australia 2005 Table 8.4

Asthma in Australia 2005

Table 8.4
Social component of quality of life, adults and children with current asthma, Australia, 1998–2001

Population/study	Measure	Results	(95% CI)
Days away from work school or usual activities
National Health Survey 2001(1) All ages	Any days away from work/study in last 2 weeks	11.4% with asthma (n=3,157)	(10.1–12.7%)
	Any days away from work/study in last 2 weeks	7.9% without asthma (n=23,705)	(7.5–8.3%)
	Any days away from work/school due to asthma in last 2 weeks	2.6% (n=1,926)	(1.9–3.2%)
Queensland Chronic Disease Survey 2000 (2) Age 18+ years	Days in the last 12 months when could not work/study/manage day-to-day activities due to asthma
Queensland Chronic Disease Survey 2000 (2) Age 18+ years	None 1–2 days 3–4 days 5–9 days 10–19 days 20+ days	23.4% 12.0% 10.3% 17.5% 10.7% 26.1% (n=291)	(18.5–28.3%) (8.3–15.7%) (6.8–13.8%) (13.1–21.9%) (7.2–14.3%) (21.1–31.2%)
SA Omnibus Survey 1998 (3) Age 15+ years	Number of days lost due to asthma	13.6	(10.1–18.0)
Activity limitations
National Health Survey 2001 (1) All ages	Any other days of reduced activity in the last 2 weeks (other than days off work/school)	17.5% with asthma (n=3,157)	(15.9–19.7%)
		10.0% without asthma (n=23,705)	(9.5–10.4%)
	Any other days of reduced activity due to asthma in last 2 weeks (other than days off work/school)	3.2% (n=1,926)	(2.5–4.0%)
NSW Health Survey 1998 (4) Age16+ years	Days in the last 12 months when asthma interfered with ability to work/study/ manage day-to-day activities
NSW Health Survey 1998 (4) Age16+ years	None 1–2 days 3–4 days 5–9 days 10–19 days 20+ days	79.9% 5.6% 3.8% 3.9% 3.0% 3.9% (n=3,764)	(78.2–81.6) (4.5–6.6) (2.9–4.6) (3.1–4.6) (2.2–3.7) (3.2–4.7)
Qld Chronic Disease Survey 2000 (2) Age 18+ years	Did asthma interfere with ability to work/study/ manage day-to-day activities last 12 months? (If ‘Yes’ for the first question they were asked to respond to the second part)
	Yes	36.7% (n=795)	(33.4–40.1)
	A little bit Moderate Quite a lot Extremely	23% 32% 28.5% 16.5% (n=291)	(18.2–27.8) (26.6–37.4) (23.3–33.7) (12.2–20.8)
NSW Health Survey 1998 (4) Age 16+ years	Yes	33.1% (n=1,897)	(30.2–35.9)
NSW Health Survey 1998 (4) Age 16+ years	A little bit Moderately Quite a lot Extremely	33.0% 34.3% 19.9% 12.6% (n=680)	(27.9–38.0) (29.3–39.4) (16.2–23.6) (9.4–15.8)
CHILDREN
Limitations in core activities in last 12 months
NSW Child Health Survey 2001 (5) Age 2 to 12 years	Asthma limited the child’s usual activities in the last 12 months	58.2% Mean of 9.3 days Median 2 days (n=1,243)	(55.5–60.9)

Note: The definitions for current asthma were: NSW Health Survey and Queensland Chronic Disease Survey: Doctor diagnosis of asthma plus treatment or symptoms of asthma in the last 12 months; SA Omnibus Survey and National Health Survey: ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Have you ever been diagnosed by a doctor with asthma?’ and ‘Yes’ to ‘Do you still have/get asthma?’

Sources: (1) ABS 2001 National Health Survey (CURF); (2) Epidemiology Services Unit 2002 ; (3) Wilson et al. 2002; (4) Epidemiology Services Unit 2002 ; (5) Centre for Epidemiology and Research 2002 .