The Air Quality and Health Outcomes dashboard shows trends in emergency department (ED) and urgent care (UC) center visits in Oregon starting in 2020 up to last week. The dashboard includes air quality data (daily maximum PM2.5 levels) and health data such as, daily ED and UC visits for non-infectious respiratory illnesses like asthma, and disaster-related mental health (e.g., anxiety).
These data are complied from OR-ESSENCE/NSSP and are presented at the state and county levels, Healthcare Preparedness and Response Regions and by different age groups, races and ethnicities.
For more information, view Frequently Asked Questions about the dashboard.
Why is this Data Important?
This data will allow us to monitor near-real time impacts of air quality events (e.g. wildfires, prescribed burns, winter air inversions) on human health in Oregon.
Air Quality and Health Outcome Trends
When navigating the dashboard, you may notice certain trends in the data. For example, there tend to be fewer visits in the latter half of the week and on weekends, and visits increase on Sundays and Mondays. Additionally, visits can visibly decrease during holidays but increase shortly thereafter. This can be due to patterns in how and when individuals utilize emergency departments and urgent care centers for these types of visits.
How to Interpret the Data
On the homepage, you can see the total daily visits for the whole state. Other pages show visits as a percentage of total visits. For example, if you select the Non-Infectious tab on the Respiratory Illness page and choose the 5-17 age group, the graph will show “X% of statewide visits on this day for the 5-17 age group were for non-infectious respiratory illnesses.” If you select the Non-Infectious tab and choose an HPR Region, the graph will show “X% of visits on this day in this region were for non-infectious respiratory illnesses.”
Wildfire Resources
For more information on active air quality alerts, visit the
Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Air Quality Monitoring Map and the
Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program’s (IWFAQRP) Smoke Outlooks.
Feedback
We appreciate your input on the dashboard. Please use
this form to provide feedback.