A second health report has found higher rates of asthma and other respiratory problems among Upper Hunter residents, with an expert saying it warrants further investigation into a potential air pollution link.
But NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says residents can have confidence that, generally, rates of illness presented to general practitioners are comparable to other regional parts of the state.
The study, issued yesterday, looked at GP data from 1998 to this year to compare the type of health problems in Singleton, Muswellbrook and Denman with other regions.
It followed community concern about the possible health effects of coalmining.
It concluded that rates of asthma, sinusitis, tonsilitis and middle ear infections presented to practitioners were higher in the Upper Hunter than elsewhere, but the results were not "statistically significant".
That meant chance could not be ruled out as an explanation for the findings.
It followed a comparison of hospital admissions from 2002 to 2009, which showed emergency department attendance for asthma and respiratory diseases was higher in the Upper and Lower Hunter than the rest of NSW.
Hunter New England Health public health physician David Durrheim said yesterday there was a need for further work, given the latest results were consistent with the May findings.
"It's certainly worthy of further study and I welcome the new air-quality monitoring network that will collect data to enable us to examine the exposure to particular matter [fine dust]," Dr Durrheim said.
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