Asthma Surveillance in Vermont

Asthma prevalence in Vermont has been higher than the nationwide rate since 2007. The rate of asthma is high among several northeastern states, and Vermont has recently ranked among states with the highest rates of asthma in the U.S.

The Vermont Asthma Program is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create an asthma prevention program and to maintain and enhance an asthma surveillance system. Asthma surveillance is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of asthma-related data for use in planning, implementation, and evaluation of related public health activities. Asthma surveillance data helps to direct and inform the activities of the Vermont Asthma Program and their partners as well as provides information to the public about asthma in their communities. 

Data sources and indicators help us monitor prevalence, morbidity (symptom frequency, impact of asthma on quality of life, and comorbidities), risk factors, self and clinical management of asthma, indicators of poor management of asthma (urgent care and ER visits, hospitalizations and deaths), and costs. A variety of data sources including surveys, population-based datasets, school reports and medical claims records assist us in learning more about these indicators. 

See how well we are meeting our Asthma program goals through our Healthy Vermonters 2020 Scorecard and Maps & Trends.

Asthma Surveillance Reports

Asthma Burden Report - This report is an in-depth description of Vermont’s asthma data as of 2010. The main focus is the burden of disease within Vermont, and is meant to serve as a detailed, descriptive epidemiology of asthma and its associated risk factors.