- Approximately 34.1 million Americans have been diagnosed with asthma by a health professional during their lifetime.1
- An estimated 300 million people worldwide suffer from asthma, with 250,000 annual deaths attributed to the disease.2
- Workplace conditions, such as exposure to fumes, gases or dust, are responsible for 11% of asthma cases worldwide.2
- About 70% of asthmatics also have allergies.2
- The prevalence of asthma increased 75% from 1980-1994.3
- Asthma rates in children under the age of five have increased more than 160% from 1980-1994.3
- It is estimated that the number of people with asthma will grow by more than 100 million by 2025.2
- Asthma accounts for approximately 500,000 hospitalizations each year.5
- 13 million school days are missed each year due to asthma.5
- Asthma accounts for about 10.1 million missed work days for adults annually.5
- Asthma was responsible for 3,384 deaths in the United States in 2005.6
- The annual economic cost of asthma is $19.7 billion. Direct costs make up $14.7 billion of that total, and indirect costs such as lost productivity add another $5 billion.1
- Prescription drugs represented the largest single direct medical expenditure related to asthma, over $6 billion.1
- In 2006, asthma prevalence was 20.1% higher in African Americans than in whites.1
- The prevalence of asthma in adult females was 23% greater than the rate in males, in 2006.1
- Approximately 40% of children who have asthmatic parents will develop asthma.4
- In 2005, 8.9% of children in the United States currently had asthma.8
- Nine million U.S. children under 18 have been diagnosed with asthma at some point in their lifetime.8
- Nearly 4 million children have had an asthma attack in the previous year.8
- More than 12 million people in the United States report having an asthma attack in the past year.7
- Asthma accounts for 217,000 emergency room visits and 10.5 million physician office visits every year.9
- In 2006, almost 2.5 million people over the age of 65 had asthma, and more than 1 million had an asthma attack or episode.1
- In a survey of U.S. homes, approximately one-quarter had levels of dust mite allergens present in a bed at a level high enough to trigger asthma symptoms.10
- In 2007, 29% of children who had a food allergy also had asthma.11
- Asthma increases the odds of healthcare use in obese people by 33%.12
- About 23 million people, including almost 7 million children, have asthma.13
- Approximately 2 million Hispanics in the U.S. have asthma. 14
- Asthma is the third-ranking cause of hospitalization among children under 15.15
- An average of one out of every 10 school-aged child has asthma.16
- Annual expenditures for health and lost productivity due to asthma are estimated at over $20 billion, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.17
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- American Lung Association. Epidemiology & Statistics Unit, Research and Program Services. Trends in Asthma Morbidity and Mortality, November 2007.
- World Health Organization. Global surveillance, prevention and control of chronic respiratory diseases: a comprehensive approach, 2007.
- Centers for Disease Control. Surveillance for Asthma – United States, 1960-1995, MMWR, 1998; 47 (SS-1).
- Martinez FD, Wright AL, Taussig LM, et al. Asthma and wheezing in the first six years of life, N Engl J Med 1995; 332:133-138.
- Akinbami, L. Asthma prevalence, health care use and mortality: United States 2003-05, CDC National Center for Health Statistics, 2006.
- American Lung Association, Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, Research and Program Services. Trends in Asthms Morbidity and Mortality. November 2007. (ALA age group analysis of NHIS through 2005.
- Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2008.
- Akinbami LJ. The State of childhood asthma, United States, 1980–2005. Advance data from vital and health statistics; no 381, Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2006.
- Pitts SR, Niska RW, Xu J, Burt CW. National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2006 emergency department summary. National health statistics reports; no 7. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2008.
- Arbes SJ, et al. House dust mite allergen in U.S. beds: Results from the first national survey of lead and allergens in housing. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2003; 111:408-414.
- Branum AM, Lukacs SL. Food allergy among U.S. children: Trends in prevalence and hospitalizations. NCHS data brief, no 10. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2008.
- Pronk NP, Tan AW, O’Connor P. Obesity, fitness, willingness to communicate and health care costs. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999; 31:1535-1543.
- Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2008 and Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2008.
- Akinbami L. Asthma Prevalence, Heath Care Use and Mortality; United States 2003-2005.
- DeFrances CJ Cullen KA, Kozak LJ. National Hospital Discharge Survey: 2005 Annual Summary with Detailed Diagnosis and Procedure Data. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Statistics 12 (165); 2007.
- American Lung Association, Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, Research and Program Services. Trends in Asthma Morbidity and Mortality. November 2007.
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Chartbook on Cardiovascular, Lung and Blood Diseases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Health, 2009.