Asthma Statistics & Facts

Just how big is the asthma problem? If you think you are the only who has asthma or that it can't effect you look at the statistics.

• Approximately 20 million Americans have asthma. ¹

• Nine million U.S. children under 18 have been diagnosed with asthma. ²

• More than four million children have had an asthma attack in the previous year. ²

• More than 70% of people with asthma also suffer from allergies. ³

• 10 million Americans suffer specifically from allergic asthma. ⁴

• The prevalence of asthma increased 75% from 1980-1994. ⁵

• Asthma rates in children under the age of five have increased more than 160% from 1980-1994. ⁵

• In 2003, there were 12.7 million physician office visits and 1.2 million outpatient department visits due to asthma. ¹

• There were 1.9 million asthma-related visits to emergency departments in 2002. ¹

• There are approximately 5,000 deaths from asthma annually. ¹

• Direct health care costs for asthma in the United States total more than $11.5 billion annually; indirect costs (lost productivity) add another $4.6 billion for a total of $16.1 billion. Prescription drugs represented the largest single direct medical expenditure, over $5 billion. ¹

• 12.8 million school days are missed annually due to asthma. ¹

• The value of reduced productivity due to death represented the largest single indirect cost related to asthma, approaching $1.7 billion. ¹

• Asthma accounts for approximately 24.5 million missed work days for adults annually. ¹

• Asthma prevalence is 39% higher in African Americans than in whites. ¹

• The prevalence of asthma in adult females was 35% greater than the rate in males, in 2003. ¹

• Approximately 40% of children who have asthmatic parents will develop asthma. ⁶

1. American Lung Association. Epidemiology & statistics Unit, Research and Program Services. Trends in Asthma Morbidity and Mortality May 2005.
2. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2002. Series 10, Number 221.2004-1549
3. National Library of Medicine. Understanding Allergy and Asthma. National Institutes of Health.
4. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. Fact Sheet #9: Asthma and its Environmental Triggers: Scientists Take a Practical New Look at a Familiar Illness . www.niehs.nih.gov/oc/factsheets/asthma.htm
5. Centers for Disease Control. Surveillance for Asthma – United States, 1960-1995, MMWR. 1998; 47 (SS-1).
6. 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.