out of a total of 1450 individual children seen. The state Children with Special Health Care Needs

The hospital Happy Child’s Emergency Room (ER) in the community of Sunny land recorded 120 asthma cases during 2005 out of a total of 1450 individual children seen.

The state Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) program was interested in determining if these numbers meant an increased risk of a child developing asthma in Sunny land or a possible decrease in the effectiveness of the medication taken by asthmatic children in this community. In 2005 they asked the hospital to track the number of first-time asthma diagnoses admitted to the ER versus those asthma cases who visited the ER but had been previously diagnosed as having asthma.

In 2006 out of 1370 children seen in the ER, there were 130 asthma cases: 42 were new cases, 88 had been previously diagnosed prior to the ER visit.

1. What was the risk of having asthma in 2005 for children in Sunny land seeking ER care at hospital Happy Child?

2. What was the prevalence of childhood asthma in 2005 in the ER at hospital Happy Child in Sunny land?

3. What was the prevalence of childhood asthma in 2006 in the ER at hospital Happy Child in Sunny land?

4. Can the state CSHCN program answer its question?

5. Does knowing the incidence of childhood asthma diagnoses in the ER at this hospital in Sunny land in 2006 help? What is the incidence?