For Immediate Release:
October 16, 2006

Contact:
Nanci Gonder
Office of Public Information
573-751-6062

New report shows asthma sends thousands of children to emergency room every year
Better disease management could help prevent many trips to the ER

Thousands of children with asthma are taken to emergency rooms every year in Missouri, but better disease management could reduce the number of hospital visits and save millions of dollars in medical expense, according to a new report from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The report shows that Missouri children under the age of 18 made nearly 14,000 trips to the emergency room for asthma in 2003.
 
“Asthma is one of Missouri’s more common and costly diseases, especially for children,” said Peggy Gaddy, manager of the health department’s Asthma Prevention and Control Program. “Emergency room visits for asthma are expensive and often can be prevented with better access to primary care physicians, preventive medicine and health education.”

Hospital charges for emergency room visits by asthma patients younger than 18 years of age in Missouri totaled nearly $10 million in 2003.

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease triggered by allergens, infections, exercise, abrupt changes in the weather and exposure to airway irritants such as tobacco smoke.

Emergency room visits are one indicator of poorly controlled asthma, but an equally important indicator is missed school days. Asthma is one of the most common reasons children are absent from school.

“Children who successfully control their asthma can participate in all types of activities and avoid missing school,” Gaddy said.

Educating children and their parents about treating asthma is vital to addressing the disease, Gaddy said. Regular visits to a health care provider, taking medication as directed by a doctor and staying away from things that trigger asthma attacks can help children avoid trips to the emergency room and improve their quality of life.

School nurses can also serve an important role in helping children control their asthma by administering the students’ medication at school in order to reduce asthma symptoms. Schools and school nurses can further aid children with asthma by:

• Establishing policies and procedures that help students and families learn about asthma management;
• Allowing students to manage their asthma during school hours and events; and
• Facilitating communication with the family and the family’s medical care provider about the child’s asthma and the best way to treat it.

To encourage young children to get more involved with their asthma care, the state health department is making a new children’s book about asthma available to all public elementary school libraries in Missouri. The book, Zoey and the Zones, tells a story about a little blue car who discovers he has asthma, runs into trouble and learns how to manage his condition. The illustrated story is written for children ages 5 to 11.

“This book is one tool that schools can use to help even the youngest children learn about asthma and how to manage it,” Gaddy said. “We are encouraging school nurses, teachers and others to use the book as a basis for communicating with children about asthma management. The book may also help teachers and students empathize and be supportive of children with asthma.”

Other findings from the health department’s new asthma report show:

• Missouri’s highest asthma rates are found in children ages 1 to 4 years old.
• The rate of emergency room treatment for asthma is four times higher for African American children than for white children.
• As children get older, they are less likely to be treated in emergency rooms for asthma.

The entire asthma report can be found at: www.dhss.mo.gov/FOCUS/FOCUS_May06.pdf.

The report was based on data from the Patient Abstract System, a state-mandated reporting system that tracks treatment information for every patient treated in hospital emergency departments in Missouri.

More information about Missouri’s Asthma Prevention and Control Program can be found at: www.dhss.mo.gov/asthma/.