National asthma data is collected on an annual basis by the CDC via the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System phone survey, which was founded in 1984. Households are selected through a random-digit-dial sample, and one child is randomly selected in each household. Information on each child is based on responses of the parent or guardian in the household most knowledgeable about the sampled child’s health. Children affected by asthma are defined as those who have ever been diagnosed by a doctor or health professional as having asthma and who still have asthma, and for whom one or more of the following occurred in the past year: used medication for asthma, had moderate or severe difficulties due to asthma, had an asthma attack, and/or had been hospitalized for asthma.

Since 2005 Connecticut has ranked above the nationwide prevalence for childhood asthma, and is often one of the highest. Research has shown urban/city youth are at a higher risk of asthma than those children living in suburban or rural areas. For Connecticut, two other factors in play that have an effect on the risk for asthma are low-birth weights, and children born during winter, which can be an especially long season in the Northeast.

Incidences of asthma have been noted as causing behavioral and emotional problems for children. Some of these problems include reduced self-esteem due to an inability to be involved in sports or recreational physical activities, worries about taking medication or suffering an asthma attack in school, an inability to spend time with friends who have pets, and missing school days. In Connecticut, school-aged children from 2007-2009 on average missed 59,814 days from school or day care each year due to asthma. Asthma has also been known to stunt a child’s growth and, depending on the severity, disrupt their sleep patterns and even require overnight hospitalization. If a child’s asthma is not properly controlled, the resulting increase in medication and hospitalization, as well as lost wages from parental leave, places a financial burden on those families with afflicted children. Based upon a study of 628 children from age 6-12 with asthma, the overall cost of treating asthma is twice as much when it is poorly controlled.

One of Connecticut’s primary asthma related programs is The Easy Breathing Program, run through the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Asthma Center since 1997. This program has screened more than 125,000 individuals and ensured 35,000 have received appropriate asthma care, which has reduced costs to families and hospitals.The Department of Public Health (DPH) provides guidance and preventative measures regarding asthma. The CT Association for School Based Health Centers (CASBHC) highlighted the Putting on AIRS (Asthma Indoor Risk Strategies) program, which helps reduce household triggers which by offering free in-home environmental assessments and additional educational materials through local/regional health departments. In addition, the Asthma Advisory Council (AAC) actively collaborates across the public/private sector to revise Connecticut’s statewide asthma plan. On a legislative level, local and regional boards of education have been required since 2003 to provide a chronic disease assessment, which includes asthma, to children enrolling in public schools at certain grade levels and report on an annual basis to the Public Health and Education Committees. The CABHC has also noted the prohibition of municipal school buses from idling while waiting for school dismissal as an important policy change.

• Department of Public Health
• African American Affairs Commission
• Connecticut Association of School Based Health Centers
• Connecticut Academy of Pediatrics

• Target children and adults with poorly controlled asthma for home-based asthma education.
• Reduce exposure to asthma risk factors such as obesity, exposure to smoke, and poor housing conditions.
• Promote the use of evidence-based asthma guidelines.
• Provide comprehensive asthma services through a collaboration between hospitals and community centers.
• Identify schools with a high prevalence of asthma or asthma-related emergency department visits and provide education to students affected by asthma.
• Advocate for written asthma treatment plans for all children with asthma in schools and licensed day care centers.
• Conduct health communication messages to the general public regarding the effects of poor air quality on asthma and health.
• Promote comprehensive smoking prevention and cessation programs
• Promote housing policies for improved air quality.
• Promote use of green cleaning in daycare centers and schools.
• Train health care providers to assess, manage, collect data and develop an asthma treatment plan for their patients.

Strategies provided by staff at the Department of Public Health (DPH)

Dept of Public Health/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CT - Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3132&q=388096...