Respiratory Illness
Nationally, asthma, bronchiolitis, and other respiratory illnesses are a leading cause of children’ s hospitalizations and missed school and work days with an estimated cost of $ 56 billion annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 9.3 % of children in the United States under the age of 18 had a diagnosis of asthma in 2012. Similarly, the 2013 Colorado Child Health Survey demonstrated that nearly 1 in 10 children has a current diagnosis of asthma. In 2015, asthma and bronchiolitis were two of the most common causes of emergency department visits at Children’ s Hospital Colorado( CHCO), with 1351 admissions related to bronchiolitis and 651 admissions related to asthma at our facilities.
Poorly controlled asthma disrupts sleep, can negatively impact a child’ s ability to learn and perform at school and is a common cause of children missing school, with 10.5 million days lost annually nationwide. In Denver, Adams and Arapahoe Counties, asthma related hospital discharge and emergency department rates for children ages 5-14 are higher than the state average. Low-income and minority families are disproportionately burdened by the morbidity and cost associated with asthma. Black and Latino children are less likely to receive routine care for asthma and more likely to visit the emergency room and be hospitalized than white children. While some measures of health and health care quality have improved over the past decade, these disparities in the burden of asthma have persisted or worsened.
The risk and severity of asthma and other respiratory illnesses is greatly affected by environmental exposures. Factors such as poverty, poor housing conditions, and increased exposure to environmental triggers are associated with increased asthma prevalence, worse control, and increased hospital emergency room visit and admissions. Barriers to asthma control may or may not be related to direct healthcare but may lie in areas like adherence to medications, exposure to tobacco and / or marijuana smoke or living in multi-unit housing. Many of these barriers significantly impact disease management, further complicating care for patients and providers. Due to the high prevalence of respiratory illnesses in childhood, especially asthma, their burden on the healthcare system, and the correlation between these illnesses and social determinants of health, we have prioritized respiratory illnesses.
Children’ s Hospital Colorado will focus on three major areas of prevention and health promotion to address this health priority area:
Goal 1: Increase access to routine care for respiratory illnesses Goal 2: Strengthen support network in clinical and community settings Goal 3: Decrease health impact of environmental exposure to air particulate matter
Colorado vs
National
Respiratory Illnesses
9 %
Kids with asthma
9 %
Community Health Action Plan 53