2018 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 Asthma1 Prevalence (2018)
National Current Asthma Prevalence (2018)
Characteristic2 Weighted Number with Current Asthma1 Percent (SE)
Total 24,753,379 7.7 (0.20)
Child (Age <18 years) 5,530,131 7.5 (0.37)
Adult (Age 18+ years) 19,223,248 7.7 (0.22)
All Age Groups
0–4 years 744,172 3.8 (0.49)
5–14 years 3,552,191 8.6 (0.56)
15–19 years 2,204,217 11.0 (0.93)
20–24 years 1,741,490 8.1 (0.93)
25–34 years 2,895,111 6.5 (0.49)
35–64 years 9,587,682 7.7 (0.30)
65+ years 4,028,516 7.8 (0.40)
Child Age Group
0–4 years 744,172 3.8 (0.49)
5–11 years 2,349,889 8.1 (0.60)
12–17 years 2,436,070 9.9 (0.73)
Young Teens (12–14 years) 1,202,302 9.8 (1.15)
Teenagers (15–17 years) 1,233,768 10.0 (0.91)
Adolescents (11–21 years) 4,601,301 10.3 (0.65)
Young Adults (22–39 years) 5,102,853 6.5 (0.36)
Sex
Males 9,786,413 6.2 (0.25)
Boys (Age <18 years) 3,121,842 8.3 (0.54)
Men (Age 18+ years) 6,664,571 5.5 (0.27)
Females 14,966,966 9.1 (0.29)
Girls (Age <18 years) 2,408,289 6.7 (0.52)
Women (Age 18+ years) 12,558,677 9.8 (0.33)
Poverty Level3
Below 100% of the poverty threshold 4,432,695 10.8 (0.60)
100% to less than 250% of the poverty threshold 7,069,790 8.1 (0.40)
250% to less than 450% of the poverty threshold 6,028,021 7.3 (0.40)
450% of poverty threshold or higher 7,222,873 6.5 (0.32)

Note: NH = Non-Hispanic, SE = Standard Error
1Includes 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?"
2Numbers within selected characteristics may not sum to total due to rounding
3Poverty level is based on family income and family size using the U.S. Census Bureau's poverty thresholds.
Source: 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Data, Table 3-1 and Table 4-1 (Note: Some Child Age Group data analyzed separately)

Current Asthma1 Prevalence by Race and Ethnicity (2016-2018)
Current Asthma1 Prevalence by Race and Ethnicity (2016-2018)
Race/Ethnicity Total Child Adult
Weighted Number with Current Asthma1 Percent (SE) Weighted Number with Current Asthma1 Percent (SE) Weighted Number with Current Asthma1 Percent (SE)
White NH 15,496,008 8.0
(0.13)
2,560,627 6.8
(0.27)
12,935,381 8.2
(0.14)
Black NH 4,159,143 10.7
(0.35)
1,391,780 14.2
(0.75)
2,767,363 9.6
(0.39)
AIAN NH 252,177 10.4
(1.42)
64,276 10.2
(2.96)
187,901 10.5
(1.53)
Asian NH 829,238 4.5
(0.36)
142,508 3.8
(0.50)
686,730 4.7
(0.42)
Multiple NH 952,212 13.1
(0.96)
398,771 13.0
(1.17)
553,441 13.3
(1.33)
Hispanic 3,746,988 6.5
(0.30)
1,380,782 7.5
(0.46)
2,366,206 6.0
(0.35)
Puerto Rican2 780,533 14.0
(1.17)
228,118 13.6
(1.89)
552,414 14.2
(1.40)
Mexican2 1,916,450 5.4
(0.31)
782,776 6.6
(0.49)
1,133,674 4.8
(0.39)
Other Hispanic2 1,050,005 6.3
(0.52)
369,888 7.6
(0.87)
680,117 5.7
(0.57)

Note: NH = Non-Hispanic, AIAN = American Indian/ Alaska Native, SE = Standard Error
1Includes 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?"
2As a subset of Hispanic
Source: 2016–2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

National
Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 among People with Current Asthma2 by Age (2018)
National Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 among People with Current Asthma2 by Age (2018)
Characteristic Weighted number with asthma attack1 Percent (SE)
Total 11,222,479 45.4 (1.23)
Child (Age <18 years) 2,965,929 53.8 (2.70)
Adult (Age 18+ years) 8,256,550 43.0 (1.38)

Note: SE = Standard Error
1Having had one or more asthma attacks in the past 12 months among people with current asthma
2Includes 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: 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Table 5-1 and Table 6-1

Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 among People with Current Asthma2 by Race and Ethnicity (2016-2018)
Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 among People with Current Asthma2 by Race and Ethnicity (2016-2018))
Race/Ethnicity Total Child Adult
Weighted number with asthma attack1 Percent (SE) Weighted number with asthma attack1 Percent (SE) Weighted number with asthma attack1 Percent (SE)
White NH 7,111,073 46.0 (0.83) 1,418,352 55.5 (1.85) 5,692,721 44.1 (0.90)
Black NH 1,869,536 45.1 (1.59) 732,681 52.9 (2.88) 1,136,856 41.1 (1.99)
AIAN NH 104,016 41.2 (6.52) 24,092 37.5 (12.44)* 79,923 42.5 (7.49)
Asian NH 386,864 46.7 (4.13) 83,290 58.4 (6.64) 303,574 44.2 (4.76)
Multiple NH 518,822 54.7 (3.48) 238,121 59.7 (4.81) 280,702 51.0 (4.84)
Hispanic 1,687,247 45.0 (2.34) 648,173 47.0 (2.84) 1,039,074 43.9 (3.00)
Puerto Rican3 387,642 49.7 (4.36) 111,931 49.1 (6.86) 275,712 49.9 (5.13)
Mexican3 796,835 41.6 (3.24) 344,770 44.1 (3.94) 452,065 39.9 (4.18)
Other Hispanic3 502,769 47.9 (4.16) 191,472 51.8 (5.48) 311,297 45.8 (5.17)

Note: NH = Non-Hispanic, AIAN = American Indian/ Alaska Native, SE = Standard Error
1Having had one or more asthma attacks in the past 12 months among people with current asthma
2Includes 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?"
3As a subset of Hispanic
*Relative standard error of the estimate is 30%-50%; the estimate is unreliable.
Source: 2016–2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

National
Health Care Use1 (2017)
National Health Care Use* (2016)
Emergency Department Visits Hospital Inpatient Stays
Weighted Number of Visits Rate2 (SE) Weighted Number of Visits Rate2 (SE)
Total 1,564,440 49.1 (6.7) 182,620 5.6 (0.14)
Child (Age <18 years)3 626,923 85.3 (18.4) 75,905 10.3 (0.24)
Adult (Age 18+ years)4 937,516 38.3 (6.0) 106,710 4.2 (0.16)

Abbreviation: SE = Standard Error

Notes:
For detailed estimates refer to 2017 Healthcare Use Data web tables: https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/healthcare-use/2017/data.htm
1Asthma as the primary diagnosis (ICD-10-CM Code: J45)
2Crude rate per 10,000 population
3Rate was calculated using the weighted number of visits for children aged 0-17 years and dividing it by the civilian non-institutionalized population (for emergency department visit rate) or resident population (for hospitalization rate) for children aged 0-17 years per 10,000.
4Rate was calculated using the weighted number of visits for adults aged 18+ years divided by the civilian non-institutionalized population (for emergency department visit rate) or resident population (for hospitalization rate) for adults aged 18+ years per 10,000.

Data sources:
Emergency department visits: CDC/NCHS. National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ahcd/about_ahcd.htm

Hospital inpatient stays: National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. For more information about HCUP data see http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/

Asthma Mortality (2018)
Asthma Mortality (2018)
Characteristic1 Number of Deaths2 Death Rate2 per million (SE)
Total 3,441 10.5 (0.18)
Child (Age <18 years) 192 2.6 (0.19)
Adult (Age 18+ years) 3,248 12.8 (0.22)
Age Group
0–4 years 36 1.8 (0.30)
5–11 years 89 3.1 (0.33)
12–17 years 67 2.7 (0.33)
18–24 years 116 3.8 (0.35)
25–34 years 238 5.2 (0.34)
35–64 years 1,372 11.0 (0.30)
65+ years 1,522 29.0 (0.74)
Sex
Males 1,363 12.5 (0.23)
Boys (Age <18 years) 106 2.8 (0.27)
Men (Age 18+ years) 1,256 10.2 (0.29)
Females 2,078 8.5 (0.27)
Girls (Age <18 years) 86 2.4 (0.26)
Women (Age 18+ years) 1,992 15.3 (0.34)
Race/Ethnicity
White NH 1,902 9.5 (0.22)
Black NH 937 21.8 (0.71)
AIAN NH 31 11.3 (2.03)
Asian or Pacific Islander NH 174 8.5 (0.64)
Hispanic3 377 6.3 (0.32)

Note: NH = Non-Hispanic, AIAN = American Indian or Alaska Native, SE = Standard Error
1Numbers within selected characteristics may not sum to total due to rounding
2Underlying cause of death is asthma (ICD-10 codes: J45-J46)
3Information for Hispanic origin was missing for [20] deaths
Source: CDC Wonder