Asthma is a condition which managed properly can lead to normal life activities. Episodes of asthma attack is the growing spectrum of an asthma episode that cannot be controlled. Asthma attacks can be prevented or managed properly following medical provider indications as prescribed in the patient’s Asthma Action Plan. Admission to the emergency department (ED), because of an asthma attack, is an indicator of very poorly controlled asthma episode.

Based on the ICD-9 classification system, rates of asthma-related ED visit show an overall decreasing trend between 2008-2015. ICD-10 system was implemented in late 2015. Although 2015 and earlier data should not be compared to 2016 and later data, the data post ICD-10 implementation indicates a continued downward trend in the overall asthma ED visit rate for the state. The asthma ED visit rate reached a low of 54.2 per 10,000 population in 2019. The rates are lower in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are cautious of those rates and not making any conclusion before we have more normalized data.

Asthma ED visit rate shows an abrupt increase in 2007 among children, with 85.6 per 10,000 population, reaching acme in 2011, to 109.8 per 10,000 population. Its rate has remain the highest compared to adults and the state. Overall, children have been the most affected over the past two decades. Although the overall trend for 2016 and after is downward, the data indicates asthma ED visit is more prevalent among non-Hispanic Black, Hispanics and children.

Healthy People 2030 objective for ED visit rate is to reach 64.3 per 10,000 population among children under 5 years of age and 40.2 per 10,000 population among people aged 5 years and over. More efforts are still needed to reduce ED visits among Connecticut residents, especially among children under 5 years of age.

Prior target of 69.4 per 10,000 population in overall ED visit rate was achieved, and a new target was set at 62.8 per 10,000 population for 2014.

Data Notes: Since October 1, 2015, all causes of emergency department (ED) visit are classified according to the ICD-10-CM classification system.  The ICD-9-CM coding system was used for ED visits occurring before October 1, 2015.  The cause of ED visit classifications before 2015 are not directly comparable to classifications for 2016 or later.  In addition, the classifications for calendar year 2015 are not directly comparable to either time periods because of the mix of codes used during this year.

These data are current as of February 2023. New data are expected by fall of 2023.

Potential Partners (SHIP):
Connecticut Department of Public Health; Connecticut Department of Social Services; Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development; Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; State Department of Education; Connecticut Department of Children and Families; State Legislature; local public health agencies; health care providers including pediatricians and thoracic specialists, community health centers, and hospitals; health professional associations; pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies; health insurers; American Lung Association and Thoracic Society; other organizations and coalitions focused on health and the environment; community service providers; philanthropic and research organizations that address asthma and respiratory diseases; schools of public health, allied health, nursing, and medicine.

Asthma Program:

Connecticut State Department of Education, Connecticut School Nurses Association, Connecticut Hospital Association, local public health departments, health professional associations, health care providers, community health centers, school-based health centers.

SHIP:

Implementation of the National Asthma Education Prevention Program guidelines. (National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Expert Panel Report 3 (NAEPP-EPR3), 2007. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, NIH.)

Asthma Program:

The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program- Expert Panel Report 3(NAEPP EPR-3) Guidelines strongly emphasizes the importance of:

• asthma assessment and management education to health providers
• ensuring communication and linkages between health providers
• the use of an asthma action plan
• the referral to a community partner

Statewide Strategies:

• Adhere to the State Department of Education's Standard Operating Procedure for any child with asthma to receive an Asthma Action Plan.

SHIP Strategies:

• Advocate for mandatory written asthma treatment plans for all children with asthma in schools and in licensed daycare centers, and for legislation to prohibit smoking in cars with children
• Promote the use of evidence-based asthma guidelines by primary care clinicians and dentists and other dental and medical professionals
• Conduct a public education campaign, in partnership with local television news stations, on the effects of poor air quality days on health
• Implement evidence-based, comprehensive asthma programs and smoking prevention and cessation programs
• Encourage pediatricians to discuss smoking cessation/prevention with parents
• Asthma Program will do ongoing program monitoring, conference calls to AIRS coordinators will focus on monitor activities and deliverables

Asthma Program:

• Communicate and educate on the burden of asthma to multiple audiences and through different modalities
• Develop community outreach and education messages about ways to control asthma
• Promote, in partnership with the Connecticut Hospital Association, the continuum of asthma care of residents with asthma in the Community, by educating hospital providers and staff about best practice for asthma management and, by providing an Asthma Action Plan to all discharged patients
• Work with community partners, to implement home-based interventions to identify and remove environmental triggers and provide self-management education
• Improve asthma control among Connecticut Residents through community education and outreach
• Offer asthma education resources translated in Spanish