Connecticut State Department of Public Health

Asthma Program

 
MISSION STATEMENT
 
The mission of the Connecticut Asthma Program is to reduce asthma associated morbidity and mortality, decrease asthma disparities and, support Connecticut residents living with asthma in achieving asthma control and improving their quality of life.

The Asthma Program is part of the Chronic Diseases Unit within the Community, Family Health, and Prevention Section at the Connecticut Department of Public Health. Under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the asthma program is committed to reducing asthma disparities and improving access to comprehensive asthma control management.

THE CONNECTICUT ASTHMA PROGRAM’S GOALS
  • Partnering with health care and community systems to provide culturally appropriate and effective delivery of coordinated asthma services to communities most affected by asthma
  • Advancing the integration of Community Health Workers to address social determinants of health and barriers to asthma management and facilitate access health care services.
  • Providing community asthma education and expand access to CT’s asthma home visiting program.
  • Promote guidelines-based asthma care to health professionals in community health centers and schools.
  • Reducing/eliminating exposure to indoor and outdoor environmental asthma triggers. 
  • Support policies to improve access to affordable and quality housing, advancing the adoption of and assist in advancing the adoption of policies to improve indoor and outdoor air. 
  • Promoting CDC’s comprehensive approach to asthma management through its EXHALE strategic framework.
  • Using datasets to identify and monitor the impact of asthma strategies on groups of the population disproportionately affected by asthma.
  • Using CDC’s evaluation approach to determine the programmatic activities’ effectiveness, and to implement recommendations for improvement.
ASTHMA AND COVID-19 People who have moderate to severe asthma may be at higher risk of severe illness from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). For more information about COVID-19, please click here for the CT COVID-19 Response website.

BRIEF OVERVIEW: CT ASTHMA Asthma is a chronic disease that affects 25 million of children and adults nationwide or 7.8% of the US population (see national asthma data).  Compared to other states, Connecticut was among the top 15 states with the highest percentage of adults with asthma in 2020 (see adult asthma data across states).  Through its asthma surveillance activities, the Connecticut Asthma Program (CAP) can identify at-risk populations and monitor trends in asthma rates across the state.  Click here for more details on CT Asthma Statistics.

Connecticut Asthma Statistics:
  • In 2021, 61,200 (8.9%) children and 300,900 (10.5%) adults had asthma.
  • In 2021, the state’s asthma hospitalization was 4.6 per 10,000 populations (rate data are lower due to the pandemic).
  • In 2021, the state’s emergency department (ED) visit was 37.9 per 10,000 populations (rate data are lower due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
  • In 2021, Connecticut incurred $86,155,820 million acute care charges due to asthma as a primary diagnosis. Of that amount, $44.5 million were for hospitalizations and $41.6 million were for emergency department (ED) visits (charge data are lower due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
  • Of the $86.1million, $ 66.3 million (77%) were charged to public funds (Medicaid and Medicare).
   Image showing asthma healthcare charges broken out by Emergency Department and Inpatient charges and further broken out by payer type.
 
In CT, it has been found that women, residents of Hispanic and non-Hispanic black communities, are disproportionately affected by asthma. The state’s five largest cities (Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, and Waterbury), with a total population of 652,568, represent only 18% of Connecticut’s total population, yet they account for nearly half (45%) of the $86.1million for asthma total healthcare charges.  For more details, see surveillance page. 


 

 

 

 

 The Connecticut Asthma Program can be reached at 860-509-8251

 

This page was updated on April 13, 2023.