Using NSW Health Survey data to monitor asthma prevalence and management in NSW

Asthma is a major public health issue in Australia. State and commonwealth governments recognise asthma as a priority area for both policy development and resource allocation. To inform and evaluate policy in this field, measurements of indicators of the level of disease, time trends, distribution of disease burden, avoidable risk factors, and the institution of effective management practices, are all required. Routine data sources have value for this purpose, but with important limitations.