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  • 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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  1. American Lung Association. Epidemiology & Statistics Unit, Research and Program Services. Trends in Asthma Morbidity and Mortality, November 2007.
  2. World Health Organization. Global surveillance, prevention and control of chronic respiratory diseases: a comprehensive approach, 2007.
  3. Centers for Disease Control. Surveillance for Asthma – United States, 1960-1995, MMWR, 1998; 47 (SS-1).
  4. 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.
  5. Akinbami, L. Asthma prevalence, health care use and mortality: United States 2003-05, CDC National Center for Health Statistics, 2006.
  6. 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.
  7. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2008.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Pronk NP, Tan AW, O’Connor P. Obesity, fitness, willingness to communicate and health care costs. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999; 31:1535-1543.
  13. 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.
  14. Akinbami L. Asthma Prevalence, Heath Care Use and Mortality; United States 2003-2005.
  15. 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.
  16. American Lung Association, Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, Research and Program Services. Trends in Asthma Morbidity and Mortality. November 2007.
  17. 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.