Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in the United States. If diagnosed asthma is highly treatable. However, diagnoses of asthma can be the hardest part of treatment. This study was conducted to examine the characteristics of asthma patients in the emergency room (ER). The dependent variable used use of ER in the past 12 months among was individuals who are currently diagnosed with asthma. I used the following independent variables to determine any characteristics that these individuals might share; age, race, insurance status/type, number of doctors' visits per year, geographic location and whether these particular patients use daily medication to control their asthma.

Data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) 2009 was used. An association was found between the dependent variables; age, race, insurance status and number of doctors' visits per year. However, no association was found between geographic location and ER usage for individuals who have asthma.