2019 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 (2019)
National Current Asthma Prevalence (2018)
Characteristic2 Weighted Number with Current Asthma1 Percent (SE)
Total 25,131,132 7.8 (0.17)
Children (Age <18 years) 5,104,410 7.0 (0.34)
Adults (Age 18+ years) 20,026,722 8.0 (0.19)
Age Groups (Years)
0–4 years 517,501 2.6 (0.40)
5–11 years 2,345,706 8.3 (0.64)
5–14 years 3,725,399 9.1 (0.53)
5–17 years (School Age) 4,586,909 8.6 (0.44)
12–14 years (Young Teens) 1,379,693 10.8 (0.89)
12–17 years 2,241,202 8.9 (0.57)
15–17 years (Teenagers) 861,510 7.0 (0.66)
15–19 years 1,529,286 7.4 (0.69)
11–21 years (Adolescents) 4,030,723 8.7 (0.51)
20–24 years 2,092,756 9.9 (0.91)
22–39 years (Young Adults) 6,539,182 8.4 (0.39)
25–34 years 3,574,661 8.0 (0.50)
35–64 years 9,594,397 7.8 (0.26)
65+ years 4,069,278 7.7 (0.35)
Sex
Males 10,487,151 6.6 (0.24)
Boys (Age <18 years) 3,122,923 8.4 (0.52)
Men (Age 18+ years) 7,364,229 6.1 (0.25)
Females 14,643,981 8.9 (0.25)
Girls (Age <18 years) 1,981,487 5.5 (0.41)
Women (Age 18+ years) 12,662,493 9.8 (0.28)
Poverty Level3
Below 100% of the poverty threshold 4,814,158 11.8 (0.63)
100% to less than 250% of the poverty threshold 7,837,412 8.5 (0.34)
250% to less than 450% of the poverty threshold 6,345,803 7.3 (0.32)
450% of poverty threshold or higher 6,138,494 5.9 (0.26)

Abbreviations: 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 and varying missing values.
3Poverty level is based on family income and family size using the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds. Poverty level was calculated separately using 10 imputed income files.
Source: 2019 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Data, Table 3-1 and Table 4-1 (Note: some detailed age group data was analyzed separately).

Current Asthma1 Prevalence by Race and Ethnicity (2017-2019)
Current Asthma1 Prevalence by Race and Ethnicity (2016-2018)
Race and Ethnicity Total2 Children Adults
Weighted Number with Current Asthma1 Percent (SE) Weighted Number with Current Asthma1 Percent (SE) Weighted Number with Current Asthma1 Percent (SE)
White NH 15,094,099 7.7 (0.13) 2,385,165 6.4 (0.25) 12,701,717 8.1 (0.14)
Black NH 4,105,913 10.6 (0.36) 1,289,339 13.5 (0.82) 2,814,507 9.7 (0.38)
AI/AN NH3 349,023 10.7 (1.27) 67,599 8.2 (2.30) 281,423 11.6 (1.27)
Asian NH 697,797 3.8 (0.33) 130,736 3.7 (0.52) 567,061 3.8 (0.36)
Multiple NH4 867,395 12.6 (0.90) 339,555 11.2 (1.12) 527,840 13.7 (1.32)
Hispanic 3,874,453 6.6 (0.30) 1,387,805 7.5 (0.46) 2,486,648 6.1 (0.33)
Mexican5 1,933,022 5.3 (0.31) 725,766 6.1 (0.48) 1,207,257 5.0 (0.35)
Other Hispanic5 1,929,971 8.5 (0.51) 656,741 10.0 (0.84) 1,273,230 7.9 (0.56)

Abbreviations: NH = Non-Hispanic, AI/AN = 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?”
2Total may not equal to the sum of children and adults due to rounding and varying missing values.
3NH AI/AN only and NH AI/AN with any other group combined for 2019.
4Subcategory includes ‘Other single and multiple races’ for 2019.
5As a subset of Hispanic.
Source: 2017–2019 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

National
Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 Among People with Current Asthma2 by Age (2019)
National Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 among People with Current Asthma2 by Age (2018)
Characteristic Weighted Number With Asthma Attack1 Percent (SE)
Total 10,328,879 41.2 (1.12)
Child (Age <18 years) 2,259,987 44.3 (2.60)
Adult (Age 18+ years) 8,068,892 40.4 (1.20)

Abbreviation: 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: 2019 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 (2017–2019)
Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 among People with Current Asthma2 by Race and Ethnicity (2016-2018))
Race and Ethnicity Total3 Children Adult
Weighted Number With Asthma Attack1 Percent (SE) Weighted Number With Asthma Attack1 Percent (SE) Weighted Number With Asthma Attack1 Percent (SE)
White NH 6,669,233 44.3 (0.80) 1,254,656 52.7 (1.91) 5,412,746 42.7 (0.86)
Black NH 1,765,852 43.1 (1.82) 655,206 50.9 (3.30) 1,110,647 39.6 (2.08)
AIAN NH4 136,583 39.1 (5.68) 26,978 39.9 (11.79) 109,605 38.9 (6.19)
Asian NH 338,269 48.5 (4.01) 66,271 50.7 (7.39) 271,998 48.1 (4.55)
Multiple NH5 435,882 50.3 (3.76) 184,084 54.2 (5.28) 251,798 47.7 (5.15)
Hispanic 1,639,249 42.3 (1.99) 616,213 44.4 (2.88) 1,023,036 41.1 (2.43)
Mexican6 769,613 39.8 (2.70) 302,381 41.7 (3.95) 467,232 38.7 (3.51)
Other Hispanic6 862,417 44.7 (2.76) 309,608 47.1 (4.29) 552,809 43.4 (3.22)

Abbreviations: NH = Non-Hispanic, AI/AN = 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?”
3Total may not equal to the sum of children and adults due to rounding and varying missing values.
4NH AI/AN only and NH AI/AN with any other group combined for 2019.
5Subcategory includes ‘Other single and multiple races’ for 2019.
6As a subset of Hispanic.
Source: 2017–2019 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

National
Health Care Use1 (2018)
National Health Care Use* (2016)
Emergency Department Visits Hospital Inpatient Stays
Weighted Number of Visits Rate2 (SE) Weighted Number of Visits Rate2 (SE)
Total 1,629,469 50.6 (6.1) 178,530 5.5 (0.14)
Children (Age <18 years)3 767,395 104.7 (23.0) 74,295 4.5 (0.16)
Adults (Age 18+ years)4 862,074 34.6 (4.3) 104,235 6.3 (0.13)

Abbreviation: SE = Standard Error

Notes:

For detailed estimates refer to 2018 Healthcare Use Data web tables: https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/healthcare-use/2018/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 divided by the civilian non-institutionalized population (for emergency department visit rate) or resident population (for hospitalization rate) for children aged 0-17 years and multiplied by 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 and multiplied by 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: HCUPnet, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. https://hcupnet.ahrq.gov/. For more information about HCUP data see http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/.xternal icon

Asthma Mortality (2019)
Asthma Mortality (2018)
Characteristic1 Number of Deaths2 Death Rate2 Per Million (SE)
Total 3,524 10.7 (0.18)
Children (Age <18 years) 178 2.4 (0.18)
Adults (Age 18+ years) 3,346 13.1 (0.23)
Age Group (Years)
0–4 14 3 (0.19)
5–11 97 3.4 (0.35)
12–17 67 2.7 (0.33)
18–24 128 4.2 (0.37)
25–34 318 6.9 (0.39)
35–64 1,436 11.5 (0.30)
65+ 1,464 27.1 (0.71)
Sex
Males 1,422 8.8 (0.23)
Boys (Age <18 years) 122 3.3 (0.30)
Men (Age 18+ years) 1,300 10.5 (0.29)
Females 2,102 12.6 (0.28)
Girls (Age <18 years) 56 1.6 (0.21)
Women (Age 18+ years) 2,046 15.6 (0.35)
Race/Ethnicity
White NH 1,961 9.9 (0.22)
Black NH 983 23.9 (0.76)
AI/AN NH 19 3 (1.79)
Asian or Pacific Islander NH 136 7.2 (0.62)
Hispanic4 365 6.0 (0.32)

Abbreviations: NH = Non-Hispanic, AI/AN = American Indian or Alaska Native, SE = Standard Error.
1Numbers within selected characteristics may not sum to total due to rounding and missing values.
2Underlying cause of death is asthma (ICD-10 codes: J45–J46).
3Suppressed because <20 deaths.
Source: CDC Wonder.

Page last reviewed: June 6, 2022