2021 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Data

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Percentage of Persons Who Had Asthma Attack1 Among Those With Current Asthma2
by Age, United States: National Health Interview Survey, 2021

Table 4-1
Percentage of Persons With Current Asthma1
by Age, United States: National Health Interview Survey, 2021

Characteristic All Ages
Total
Children
Age <18
Adults
Age 18+
0–4 5–14 15–19 20–24 25–34 35–64 65+
Total: 7.7 6.5 8.0 1.9 7.7 9.0 9.5 7.8 8.2 7.2
   Male 6.5 7.3 6.2 2.1 9.1 9.7 8.4 7.0 6.0 4.6
   Female 8.9 5.6 9.7 1.8 6.2 8.4 10.6 8.7 10.4 9.4
White Non–Hispanic: 7.7 5.7 8.2 1.3 6.6 9.1 8.9 8.0 8.7 7.2
   Male 6.3 6.2 6.3 1.8* 7.4 8.6 7.4 7.0 6.7 4.4
   Female 9.2 5.3 10.1 0.8* 5.9 9.6 10.4 9.1 10.8 9.5
Black Non–Hispanic: 11.0 12.5 10.6 4.3* 15.0 16.9 11.4 12.9 10.2 7.7
   Male 9.8 12.8 8.8 4.9* 15.6 19.9 13.4* 12.8 6.7 3.6*
   Female 12.1 12.1 12.1 ** 14.3 14.0 9.6* 13.1 13.1 10.4
Other Non–Hispanic: 7.1 5.7 7.6 3.1* 6.4 7.2 13.5 5.5 6.8 9.4
    Male 6.2 7.0 5.9 ** 8.6 11.3 10.6* 3.7* 4.5 8.9*
    Female 7.9 4.4 9.0 5.5* 4.0* ** 16.7* 7.3 8.6 9.9
Hispanic: 5.7 5.4 5.8 1.5* 6.9 5.8 8.1 5.3 5.7 5.7
    Male 5.2 7.0 4.4 1.9* 9.2 6.3 6.9* 5.5 3.4 4.4*
    Female 6.2 3.8 7.1 ** 4.3 5.4 9.1 5.2 7.9 6.9
Mexican/Mexican–American:2 4.7 5.5 4.4 ** 7.5 6.0 4.9* 3.6 4.8 4.0*
    Male 4.9 7.4 3.8 ** 10.1 8.1 6.3* 4.0* 2.8 3.7*
    Female 4.6 3.5 5.0 ** 4.5 4.1* ** 3.1 6.8 4.3*
Other Hispanic:2 7.0 5.1 7.7 3.3* 5.8 5.4* 13.6 8.1 6.6 7.7
    Male 5.6 6.1 5.3 ** 7.6 3.7* 8.5* 7.9 4.0 5.1*
    Female 8.2 4.1 9.7 ** 3.8* 7.1* 17.3 8.3 8.8 9.7
Region:
    Northeast 7.4 5.0 8.0 2.1* 5.3 6.8 12.1 7.6 8.2 7.0
    Midwest 8.5 7.4 8.8 3.1* 8.3 11.8 9.5 8.5 9.3 7.2
    South 7.3 6.8 7.4 2.1 8.4 8.4 9.5 8.0 7.2 6.7
    West 7.8 6.2 8.3 ** 7.4 9.3 7.8 7.2 8.9 8.4
Ratio of Family Income to Poverty Threshold:3
    0–0.99 10.4 9.4 10.9 2.5* 11.5 13.5 12.5 10.0 11.4 9.7
    1.00–2.49 8.2 6.2 8.9 2.1* 7.7 7.1 10.0 8.1 9.9 8.0
    2.50–4.49 7.1 5.7 7.5 1.7* 6.5 8.4 8.1 8.2 7.6 6.6
    4.50 and above 6.8 5.7 7.0 1.6* 6.4 9.7 8.9 6.8 7.0 6.5

Source: National Health Interview Survey, National Center for Health Statistics, CDC
Compiled 3/27/2023

1Persons 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?”
All relative standard errors are <30% unless otherwise indicated.
*Relative standard error of the estimate is 30%–50%; the estimate is unreliable.
**Suppressed if relative standard error of the estimate exceeds 50% or if standard error is missing or 0.
2As a subset of Hispanic.
3Missing responses imputed. See NHIS “Imputed Income Technical Document”: https://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Dataset_Documentation/NHIS/2020/NHIS2020-imputation-techdoc-508.pdf.
Notes: Sex determined by “male” or “female” response to question: “Are you male or female?” Additional information on methods and variable description available at: https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nhis/default.htm.

Asthma and Community Health Branch
National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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