2020 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 (2020)
National Current Asthma Prevalence (2019)
Characteristic2 Weighted Number With Current Asthma1 Percent (SE)
Total 25,257,138 7.8 (0.19)
Children (Age <18 years) 4,226,659 5.8 (0.38)
Adults (Age 18+ years) 21,030,479 8.4 (0.21)
Age Groups (Years)
0–4 394,206 2.0 (0.43)
5–11 1,641,279 5.9 (0.58)
5–14 2,699,214 6.6 (0.55)
5-17 (School Age) 3,832,453 7.2 (0.49)
12-14 (Young Teens) 1,057,935 8.1 (1.10)
12-17 2,191,174 8.6 (0.77)
15-17 (Teenagers) 1,133,239 9.1 (1.11)
15–19 1,833,105 9.3 (0.93)
11-21 (Adolescents) 4,136,845 9.0 (0.63)
20–24 2,253,542 10.3 (1.05)
22-39 (Young Adults) 6,621,732 8.5 (0.40)
25–34 3,600,545 8.1 (0.51)
35–64 10,245,123 8.3 (0.28)
65+ 4,215,039 7.8 (0.34)
Sex3
Males 9,604,861 6.1 (0.23)
Boys (Age <18 years) 2,107,190 5.7 (0.49)
Men (Age 18+ years) 7,497,671 6.2 (0.26)
Females 15,652,277 9.5 (0.28)
Girls (Age <18 years) 2,119,469 6.0 (0.59)
Women (Age 18+ years) 13,532,808 10.4 (0.31)
Poverty Level4
Below 100% of the poverty threshold 4,035,715 11.0 (0.75)
100% to less than 250% of the poverty threshold 7,828,911 8.7 (0.40)
250% to less than 450% of the poverty threshold 6,004,868 6.9 (0.35)
450% of poverty threshold or higher 7,387,644 6.7 (0.28)

Abbreviations: NH = Non-Hispanic, SE = Standard Error
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?”
2Numbers within selected characteristics may not sum to total due to rounding and missing values.
3Persons who answered “male” or “female” to the question “Are you male or female?”
4Poverty 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: 2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Data (Note: some detailed age group data was analyzed separately).

 

Current Asthma1 Prevalence by Race and Ethnicity (2018–2020)
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 15,286,442 7.6
(0.14)
2,062,254 5.5
(0.26)
13,224,188 8.1
(0.16)
Black NH 4,025,268 10.8
(0.41)
1,151,712 12.3
(0.83)
2,873,555 10.3
(0.47)
AI/AN NH3 417,161 10.8
(1.09)
88,995 9.3
(2.10)
328,166 11.3
(1.23)
Asian NH 632,757 3.5
(0.34)
119,662 3.5
(0.54)
513,095 3.5
(0.39)
Multiple NH4 735,992 11.5
(0.89)
264,353 8.8
(0.94)
471,639 13.8
(1.40)
Hispanic 3,770,233 6.7
(0.29)
1,263,649 6.7
(0.44)
2,506,583 6.7
(0.34)
Mexican5 1,829,044 5.5
(0.34)
675,014 5.7
(0.52)
1,154,030 5.3
(0.39)
Other Hispanic5 1,916,020 8.7
(0.50)
583,337 8.7
(0.81)
1,332,683 8.8
(0.61)

Abbreviations: NH = Non-Hispanic, AI/AN = American Indian/ Alaska Native, SE = Standard Error
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?"
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 and 2020.
4Subcategory includes "Other single and multiple races" for 2019 and 2020.
5As a subset of Hispanic.
Source: 2018–2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

National
Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 Among People With Current Asthma2 by Age (2020)
National Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 among People with Current Asthma2 by Age (2019)
Characteristic Weighted Number With Asthma Attack1 Percent (SE)
Total 10,342,170 41.0 (1.24)
Children (Age <18 years) 1,803,554 42.7 (3.06)
Adults (Age 18+ years) 8,538,616 40.7 (1.29)

Abbreviations: SE = Standard Error
1Having had one or more asthma attacks in the past 12 months among people with current asthma.
2Persons 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: 2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 Among People With Current Asthma2 by Race and Ethnicity (2018–2020)
Prevalence of Asthma Attacks1 among People with Current Asthma2 by Race and Ethnicity (2016-2018))
Race and Ethnicity Total3 Children Adults
Weighted Number With Asthma Attack1 Percent (SE) Weighted Number With Asthma Attack1 Percent (SE) Weighted Number With Asthma Attack1 Percent (SE)
White NH 6,560,318 43.0 (0.90) 1,018,183 49.4 (2.07) 5,542,134 42.0 (0.98)
Black NH 1,697,626 42.4 (1.93) 538,035 46.8 (3.51) 1,159,592 40.6 (2.27)
AI/AN NH5 170,321 40.8 (5.43) 31,888 35.8 (10.87)4 138,433 42.2 (5.90)
Asian NH 279,866 44.3 (4.57) 71,542 59.8 (7.01) 208,324 40.7 (5.20)
Multiple NH6 358,094 48.7 (4.21) 132,615 50.2 (5.96) 225,479 47.8 (5.72)
Hispanic 1,509,165 40.0 (1.91) 550,893 43.6 (3.31) 958,272 38.2 (2.23)
Mexican7 699,082 38.2 (2.64) 273,971 40.7 (4.75) 425,111 36.8 (3.28)
Other Hispanic7 799,161 41.7 (2.60) 272,698 46.7 (4.65) 526,462 39.5 (2.92)

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.
2Persons 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 missing values.
4Relative standard error of the estimate is 30%–50%; the estimate is unreliable.
5AI/AN NH only and AI/AN NH with any other group combined for 2019 and 2020.
6Subcategory includes “Other single and multiple races” for 2019 and 2020.
7As a subset of Hispanic.
Source: 2018–2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

National
Health Care Use1 (2019)
National Health Care Use1 (2018)
Emergency Department Visits Hospital Inpatient Stays
Weighted Number of Visits Rate2 (SE) Weighted Number of Visits Rate2 (SE)
Total 1,835,901 56.8 (7.6) 169,330 5.2 (0.12)
Children (Age <18 years)3 790,478 108.4 (25.4) 64,525 8.8 (0.49)
Adults (Age 18+ years)4 1,045,423 41.8 (5.8) 104,805 4.1 (0.07)

Abbreviation: SE = Standard Error

Notes:
For detailed estimates refer to 2019 Asthma-related Healthcare Use data web tables: https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/national-surveillance-data/healthcare-use.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 National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample (NIS). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. https://hcupnet.ahrq.gov/. For more information about HCUP data see https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/.

Asthma Mortality (2020)
Asthma Mortality (2019)
Characteristic1 Number of Deaths2 Death Rate2 Per Million (SE)
Total 4,145 12.6 (0.20)
Children (Age <18 years)3 204 2.8 (0.20)
Adults (Age 18+ years)4 3,941 15.4 (0.24)
Age Groups (Years)
0–4 16 5 (0.21)
5–11 91 3.2 (0.34)
12–17 97 3.9 (0.39)
18–24 158 5.3 (0.42)
25–34 348 7.6 (0.40)
35–64 1,725 13.8 (0.33)
65+ 1,710 30.7 (0.74)
Sex6
Males 1,682 10.4 (0.25)
Boys (Age <18 years) 122 3.3 (0.30)
Men (Age 18+ years) 1,560 12.5 (0.32)
Females 2,463 14.7 (0.30)
Girls (Age <18 years) 82 2.3 (0.25)
Women (Age 18+ years) 2,381 18.1 (0.37)
Race/Ethnicity
White NH 2,173 10.8 (0.23)
  Children (Age <18 years) 52 1.4 (0.19)
  Adults (Age 18+ years) 2,121 13.0 (0.28)
Black NH 1,253 28.7 (0.81)
  Children (Age <18 years) 119 10.7 (0.98)
  Adults (Age 18+ years) 1,134 34.9 (1.04)
AI/AN NH 42 15.2 (2.34)
  Children (Age <18 years) 7 5 (3.76)
  Adults (Age 18+ years) 35 17.0 (2.87)
Asian or Pacific Islander NH 214 10.1 (0.69)
  Children (Age <18 years) 7 5 (0.58)
  Adults (Age 18+ years) 207 12.4 (0.86)
Hispanic7 446 7.3 (0.34)
  Children (Age <18 years) 19 5 (0.23)
  Adults (Age 18+ years) 427 10.0 (0.48)

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.
2Asthma as the underlying cause of death (ICD-10 codes J45–J46).
3Crude rate of child deaths was calculated using the number of deaths for children aged 0–17 years and dividing it by the resident population for children aged 0–17 years per 1,000,000.
4Crude rate of adult deaths was calculated using the number deaths for adults aged 18+ years divided by the resident population for adults aged 18+ years per 1,000,000.
5Rates are unreliable when the number of deaths is less than 20.
6Variable includes categories female and male as reported in death certificate.
7Information for Hispanic origin was missing for 17 deaths.
Source: CDC/NCHS, Division of Vital Statistics CDC Wonder