Childhood asthma in Melbourne’s inner west: Emergency department visits and parental perspectives on enablers and barriers of care

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In Australia, asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease, with prevalence and care varying across communities. In three local government areas (LGAs) in Melbourne's inner west, we compared childhood asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits to Victoria overall, and explored parents' perceived enablers and barriers to community-based asthma care. METHOD: We used an administrative dataset (2007-19) and a cross-sectional survey of parents across six primary schools in the three LGAs (2022-23). Descriptive analysis was conducted to present childhood asthma-related ED rates, and asthma control, management practices, parental perceived asthma care enablers and barriers. Differences in these measures across LGAs were also examined. RESULTS: Childhood asthma-related ED visit rates were 26-53% higher in the three LGAs compared with Victoria overall. Parents (n = 545) identified general practitioners (GPs), pharmacists and EDs as the most helpful resources, but faced barriers to community-based asthma care, such as fear during asthma flare-ups, difficulty accessing GPs, and concerns about medication side effects. DISCUSSION: Melbourne's inner west has disproportionately higher asthma-related ED presentation rates. This warrants further investigation and development of strategies to improve community-based asthma care and reduce triggers, including air pollution.