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ASTHPINQUICK
Used prescription inhaler for quick relief, past 3 months
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Codes and Frequencies



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Description

For sample adults and sample children who still have asthma (ASTHMASTIL) or who had an asthma episode/attack in the past 12 months (ASTHATAKYR), ASTHPINQUICK indicates whether they had used a prescription inhaler for quick relief from asthma symptoms during the past 3 months. Please see the Comparability tab for a discussion of the change in universe.

Question Wording 

Prior to 2020, interviewers prefaced this question with the following statement:

Now I am going to ask you about two different kinds of asthma medicine. One is for quick relief. The other does not give quick relief but protects your lungs and prevents symptoms over the long term.

They then asked, "During the past 3 months, have you used the kind of prescription inhaler that you breathe in through your mouth, that gives quick relief from asthma symptoms?" According to the Field Representative's Manual, a help screen showed "examples of the types of inhalers that provide quick relief," to provide clarification if a respondent was uncertain how to classify a particular medication.

Related Variables 

Prior to 2020, those responding affirmatively to ASTHPINQUICK were asked a follow-up question about whether they used more than three canisters of this type of inhaler during the past 3 months (ASTHCANGT3).

Later questions in the 2003 survey collected information about whether persons had ever taken preventive asthma medication (ASTHPREV) and, if so, whether they were now taking preventive asthma medication daily or almost daily (ASTHPRENOW).

Other asthma-related questions were periodically included in the survey; see ASTHMAEV for a summary of these variables currently in the IPUMS NHIS.

Comparability

In 2003 and 2008 this question was only asked of sample adults or sample children who still have asthma or who had an asthma attack in the past 12 months AND who had ever used a prescription inhaler (ASTHPINEV). Beginning in 2013 the question is asked of sample adults and sample children who still have asthma or have had an asthma attack in the past 12 months.

One of the variables included in the 1999 survey, ASTHPIN3MO, also deals with the use of prescription inhalers for asthma during the past 3 months, but this variable is not fully compatible with ASTHPINQUICK. ASTHPIN3MO implicitly covers prescription asthma medicine taken by inhaler to either relieve symptoms or to prevent asthma attacks, while ASTHPINQUICK relates only to prescription inhalers that provide quick relief of asthma symptoms.

Additionally, while the basic meaning of this variable is completely comparable over time, major questionnaire changes introduced in 2019 may affect comparability with earlier years. The NHIS questionnaire was substantially redesigned in 2019 to introduce a different data collection structure and new content. For more information on changes in terminology, universes, and data collection methods beginning in 2019, please see the user note.

Universe

  • 2003; 2008: Sample adults age 18+ and sample children under age 18 who still have asthma or who had an asthma attack/episode in past 12 months AND who ever used a prescription inhaler.
  • 2013; 2018: Sample adults age 18+ and sample children under age 18 who still have asthma or who had an asthma attack/episode in past 12 months.
  • 2020: Sample children age 0-17 and sample adults age 18+ who still have asthma (ASTHMASTIL) or who had an asthma episode/attack in the past 12 months (ASTHATAKYR).

Availability

  • 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2020

Weights