Asthma Prevalence in the United States

a significant health and economic burden to patients, their families, and society:
In 2010, 1.8 million people visited an ED for asthma-related care and 439,000 people were hospitalized because of asthma

population with asthma. Prevalence estimates help us understand the burden of asthma on the nation.
Asthma “period prevalence” is the percentage of the U.S. population that had asthma in the previous 12 months.
“Current” asthma prevalence is the percentage of the U.S. population who had been diagnosed with asthma and had asthma at the time of the survey.
Asthma “period prevalence” was the original prevalence measure (1980-1996). The survey was redesigned in 1997 and this measure was replaced by lifetime prevalence (not presented in slides) and asthma episode or attack in the past 12 months. In 2001, another measure was added to assess current asthma prevalence.

Asthma Prevalence: United States, 1980-2010

The percentage of the U.S. population with asthma increased from 3.1% in 1980 to 5.5% in 1996 and 7.3% in 2001 to 8.4% in 2010.

12 people (about 26 million, or 8% of the U.S. population) had asthma in 2010,
compared with 1 in 14 (about 20 million, or 7%) in 2001.

Year

likely to have asthma than both Whites and Hispanics.

Status, Geographic Region, and Urbanicity: United States, Average Annual 2008-2010

Children, females, Blacks, and Puerto Ricans are more likely to have asthma.

People with lower annual household income were more likely to have asthma.

Residents of the Northeast and Midwest were more likely to have asthma.

Living in or not in a city did not affect the chances of having asthma.

States, 2006-2010

Among children aged 0-14, boys were more likely than girls to have asthma.
Boys and girls aged 15-17 years had asthma at the same rate..
Among adults women were more likely than men to have asthma.

Children and Adults with Current Asthma: United States, 2001-2010

From 2001 to 2010 both children and adults had fewer asthma attacks.
For children, asthma attacks declined from at least one asthma attack in the previous 12 months for 61.7% of children with asthma in 2001 to 58.3% in 2010.
For adults, asthma attacks declined from at least one asthma attack in the previous 12 months for 53.8% of adults with asthma in 2001, to 49.1% in 2010.

Sex, Race and Ethnicity, Poverty Status, and Geographic Region: Unites States, Average Annual 2008-2010

From 2008 to 2010 asthma attacks occurred more often in children and women, among families whose income was below 100% of the federal poverty threshold, and in the South and West.
Race or ethnicity did not significantly affect asthma attack prevalence.

prevalence indicate the percentage of the population with asthma at a given point in time and represent the burden on the U.S. population.
Asthma prevalence data are self-reported by respondents to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Asthma period prevalence was the original measure (1980-1996) of U.S. asthma prevalence and estimated the percentage of the population that had asthma in the previous 12 months. From 1997-2000, a redesign of the NHIS questions resulted in a break in the trend data as the new questions were not fully comparable to the previous questions. Beginning in 2001, current asthma prevalence (measured by the question, ‘‘Do you still have asthma?’’ for those with an asthma diagnosis) was introduced to identify all persons with asthma. Current asthma prevalence estimates from 2001 onward are point prevalence (previous 12 months) estimates and therefore are not directly comparable with asthma period prevalence estimates from 1980 to 1996
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS): State asthma prevalence rates on the map come from the BRFSS. The BRFSS is a state-based, random-digit-dialed telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized civilian population 18 years of age and older. It monitors the prevalence of the major behavioral risks among adults associated with premature illness and death. Information from the survey is used to improve the health of the American people. More information about BRFSS can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/.