2015 Archived National Asthma Data

These tables feature the national and state statistics on the burden of asthma among children and adults previously published on the Most Recent Asthma Data website. The data are from national and state surveillance systems administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Links to sources are provided with each table to assist with finding additional information on the data and relevant tables and reports.

Archived National Data

National
Current Asthma* Prevalence (2015)

National Current Asthma Prevalence (2015)
Characteristic** Number with Current Asthma
(in thousands)
Percent with Current Asthma
Total 24,633 7.8
Child (Age <18 years) 6,188 8.4
Adult (Age 18+ years) 18,445 7.6
All Age Groups
0–4 years 935 4.7
5–14 years 4,033 9.8
15–19 years 2,107 10.2
20–24 years 1,655 7.6
25–34 years 2,916 6.8
35–64 years 9,907 8.0
65+ years 3,079 6.6
Child Age Group
0–4 years 935 4.7
5–11 years 2,761 9.6
12–17 years 2,492 10.0
Young Teens (12–14 years) 1,272 10.3
Teenagers (15–17 years) 1,219 9.8
Adolescents (11–21 years) 4,415 9.8
Young Adults (22–39 years) 5,429 7.1
Sex
Males 9,998 6.5
Boys (Age <18 years) 3,705 9.9
Men (Age 18+ years) 6,293 5.4
Females 14,634 9.1
Girls (Age <18 years) 2,483 6.9
Women (Age 18+ years) 12,151 9.7
Race/Ethnicity
White NH 15,244 7.8
Child (Age <18 years) 2,810 7.4
Adult (Age 18+ years) 12,435 7.9
Black NH 3,931 10.3
Child (Age <18 years) 1,336 13.4
Adult (Age 18+ years) 2,595 9.1
Other NH 1,793 6.9
Child (Age <18 years) 605 8.4
Adult (Age 18+ years) 1,188 6.3
Hispanic 3,665 6.6
Child (Age <18 years) 1,438 8.0
Adult (Age 18+ years) 2,227 5.9
Puerto Rican 715 13.7
Child (Age <18 years) 198 13.9
Adult (Age 18+ years) 516 13.6
Mexican/Mexican American 2,126 6.0
Child (Age <18 years) 899 7.3
Adult (Age 18+ years) 1,226 5.3
Federal Poverty Threshold
Below 100% of poverty level 5,086 11.1
100% to less than 250% of poverty level 7,664 8.4
250% to less than 450% of poverty level 4,989 6.3
450% of poverty level or higher 6,894 6.9

Note: NH = Non-Hispanic

*Includes persons who answered “yes” to the questions: “Have you EVER been told by a doctor or other health professional that you had asthma?” and “Do you still have asthma?”

**Numbers within selected characteristics may not sum to total due to rounding

As a subset of Hispanic

Source: 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Data, Table 3-1 and Table 4-1 (Note: Child Age Group data analyzed separately)

National
Prevalence of Asthma Attacks (2015)

National Prevalence of Asthma Attacks (2015)
Characteristic Number of persons with current asthma* who reported having one or more asthma attacks (in thousands) Percent of persons with current asthma* who reported having one or more asthma attacks
Total 11,533 46.9
Child (Age <18 years) 2,941 47.5
Adult (Age 18+ years) 8,592 46.6

*Includes persons who answered “yes” to the questions: “Have you EVER been told by a doctor or other health professional that you had asthma?” and “Do you still have asthma?”
Source: 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Table 5-1 and Table 6-1

National
Asthma Hospital Inpatient Discharges (2010)

National Asthma Hospital Inpatient Discharges (2010)
Characteristic Number Rate* per 10,000
Total 439,435 14.1
Child (Age <18 years) 136,669 18.3**
Adult (Age 18+ years) 302,766 13.0**
Race
White 220,528 8.7
Black 113,522 29.9
Other 27,312 12.6

*Population-based rates age-adjusted to the 2000 standard population
**Rate not age-adjusted
Source: 2010 National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) data

National
Health Care Use:

National Health Care Use
Types of Visits Number of Visits
Number of emergency department visits with asthma as the primary diagnosis (2014): 2.0 million
Number of physician office visits with asthma as the primary diagnosis (2014): 11.0 million
Number of hospital outpatient department visits with asthma as the primary diagnosis (2010): 1.3 million

Sources:
Emergency department visits: National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2014 Emergency Department Summary Tables, Table 12 Cdc-pdf[PDF – 1.85 MB]
Physician office visits: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2014 State and National Summary Tables, Table 16 Cdc-pdf[PDF – 613 KB]
Hospital outpatient department visits: National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2010 Outpatient Department Summary Tables, Table 11 Cdc-pdf[PDF – 374 KB]

National
Asthma Mortality (2015)

Asthma Mortality (2015)
Characteristic Number of Deaths* Death Rate*,** per million
Total 3,615 10.3
Child (Age <18 years) 219 3.0
Adult (Age 18+ years) 3,396 13.7
Race
White NH 2,119 8.4
Black NH 966 23.9
Other NH 195 10.0
Hispanica 305 7.3

Note: NH = Non-Hispanic
*Underlying cause of death is asthma
**Population-based rates are age-adjusted to the 2000 standard population
Rates not age-adjusted
aInformation for Hispanic origin was missing for 30 deaths
Source: CDC Wonder

Webpage last updated: May 2018

Page last reviewed: May 21, 2018