County asthma hospitalization rate for children lowest in state

Monroe County had the lowest reported rate of asthma hospitalizations for 5-to-17-year-olds from 2007-11, according to a report issued by the Indiana State Department of Health.

The county reportedly had the state’s third lowest rate of emergency department visits for children experiencing asthma.

In 2011, Monroe County had the seventh lowest rate for asthma-related emergency visits of all ages, with 21.39 visits per 10,000 people.

Rates per 10,000 persons were age-adjusted to enable comparisons between groups of different age distributions, according to the report.

Monroe County had the lowest reported rate of asthma hospitalizations, according to the report.

During the five-year span, 172 children experiencing asthma visited emergency departments in Monroe County at a rate of 16.7  per 10,000 people, according to the report. 

In the same time period, there were 28 hospitalizations of children with asthma in the county at a rate of 2.72 per 10,000 children. Statewide, cases occurred at a rate of 9.02 per 10,000 children for hospitalizations.

Dr. Richard Malone, pediatrician for Southern Indiana Pediatrics, said asthma is best defined as a chronic condition best managed under the category of chronic disease management and is triggered by number of external factors, such as viruses, allergens, physical activity and weather changes.

Southern Indiana Pediatrics is a division of Southern Indiana Physicians, which is a part of IU Health.

Malone said preventative asthma medicines are anti-inflammatory, either of the steroid class or the leukotriene class, which can reduce the severity of swings in the state of asthma.

“I think the reason for the low local hospitalization rate is due to disease management,” Malone said. “Probably the early aggressive use of inhaled steroids helps to reduce inflammatory states that may predispose for asthma.”

Malone said a few years ago, there was an asthma expert who came to Bloomington and noted the low hospitalization rate.

“He probably thought that was due to our chronic disease management level than anything else,” Malone said.

Malone said the emergency department and pediatricians at Southern Indiana Pediatrics maintain good communication to manage the chronic aspects of the illness to prevent it from getting out of hand.

“I think the continuity of care is probably the most important in chronic disease
management, so the availability of practitioners to manage illness before it becomes severe enough to require hospitalization is very important,” Malone said.

Hospitalization rates for children in Brown, Greene, Lawrence and Owen counties from 2007 to 2011 were not reported, because they were considered unstable as less than 20 hospitalizations occurred, according to a report from the Indiana State Department of Health.

Hospitalization rates of all ages in 2011 were also not reported in Brown County.