Financial barriers to asthma care among individuals with work-related asthma

To examine financial barriers to asthma care between individuals with self-reported doctor or other health professional diagnosed work-related asthma (WRA) and those without WRA. We analyzed data from the 2006¨C2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Asthma Call-back Survey from 24 states and District of Columbia for ever employed adults (aged ≥ 18 years) who reported ever being diagnosed with asthma and who still have asthma. Financial barriers to asthma care were defined as the self-reported inability to see a primary care doctor, see a specialist, or buy medication for asthma because of the cost. Overall, 18.1% of respondents self-reported any financial barrier to asthma care; individuals with WRA were significantly more likely than those with non-WRA to be unable to see a primary care doctor (19.0% versus 9.7%, prevalence odds ratio adjusted for age, sex, race, and health insurance [POR] =2.2), to see a specialist (13.7% versus 4.9%, POR=3.1), or to buy asthma medication (22.8% versus 13.7%, POR=1.9) because of the cost. Individuals with WRA were significantly more likely than those with non-WRA to self-report an asthma-related emergency room visit in the past year (17.2% versus 11.5%, POR=1.6). Association between emergency room visit and WRA was stronger among individuals reporting financial barriers (31.2% versus 20.1%, POR=1.9); differences among those with no reported financial barriers were not significant. These results indicate that financial barriers contribute to increase emergency care use by individuals with WRA in these 25 areas. Improving healthcare access may decrease emergency care use by individuals with WRA.