Health Resource Capacity Assessment for Putnam, Connecticut, May 2001

Health Needs/Barriers to Care: Asthma

High asthma rates in Putnam were noted as a key health concern in focus groups, interviews and parent surveys. In the six months preceding this study, two young people (ages 14 and 21) arrived at Day Kimball's Emergency Department already dead of asthma. ⁶³ In fiscal year 1996, Putnam had the tenth highest rate of asthma hospital discharges among all 169 Connecticut towns. This may be magnified by a significant number of residents without health insurance (see Uninsured section) who cannot access preventive care and are therefore more likely to be admitted to the hospital. ⁶⁴  Asthma is the 31st most common diagnosis for Emergency Department non-admission visits at Day Kimball Hospital compared to 167th most common diagnosis at emergency departments statewide. ⁶⁵ A study last year estimated the prevalence of asthma among schoolchildren by surveying school nurses. As the survey was based on the number of children receiving medication for asthma in school, the survey captured children who are receiving preventive care. The study found that Windham County had the highest rate of students with asthma in the state, (9.7% vs. 8.7% statewide). ⁶⁶

Footnotes

63. Day Kimball Hospital executive.
64. "Asthma: A Growing Health Concern in Connecticut", CT Office of Health Care Access, 11/97.
65. Day Kimball Hospital, The Bristol Group, 10/01/98 to 9/30/99.
66. "A Survey of the Prevalence of Asthma Among School Age Children in Connecticut", Environment & Human Health, 2000.