Asthma Prevalence and Trends in the U.S.: A Public Health Report

This report examines the epidemiology of asthma in the United States, focusing on prevalence, trends, and demographic factors. Data from 2001, 2010, and 2016 are analyzed to show changes in asthma prevalence among different age groups, sexes, and racial/ethnic groups. The report highlights that boys are more affected than girls. It also notes that children from minority groups and low-income families experience a higher prevalence of asthma. The study indicates that asthma is more prevalent in urban areas. Mortality rates due to asthma are rare. References from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and the CDC are included. The report provides a comprehensive overview of asthma epidemiology in the U.S., offering insights into key trends and disparities.

Running head: EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ASTHMA- U. S.
Epidemiology of Asthma
Name
Institution

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ASTHMA- U. S.
The number of children with asthma represented 8.3% of the entire population of
children. Data on the prevalence of asthma in the United States is available for the years
2001, 2010, and 2013 (CDC, 2016; American Academy of Allery, Asthma & Immunology,
2018). Prevailing data indicates that there was an increase in the prevalence of asthma
between 2001 and 2010 from 8.7% to 9.4%, but then it decreased in 2016 to 8.3% (American
Academy of Allery, Asthma & Immunology, 2018). An analysis of data between 2001 and
2016 shows that more boys than girls are affected. However, the trend in change of the
prevalence of asthma shows an increase from 2001 to 2010 followed by a decline in 2016 in
reference to gender, and demographic groups apart from Mexican and the Mexican-American
children. The table below presents the prevalence of asthma for 2016 in different domains.
Figure 1: Prevalence of asthma on the basis of age, sex, and race/ethnicity in 2016 (CDC,
2016)
Children younger than 4 years had a lower prevalence, but with a high incidence of attacks
compared to older children between 12 and 17 years. Children from the minority groups,
blacks, and those of Puerto Rican descent, had a higher prevalence than those from the white
race (majority group). Also, children from low income families were more affected as

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ASTHMA- U. S.
opposed to those from high income families (Zahran, Bailey, Damon, Garbe, & Breysse,
2018). Asthma is more prevalent in urban areas compared to rural areas (Malhotra et al.,
2014). Mortality due to asthma among children is rare and in 2013, the rate was at 2.8 per
million children. The low death rates could be the reason why trends in mortality due to
asthma have not received considerable attention, and not readily available (CDC, 2018;
Malhotra et al., 2014; American Academy of Allery, Asthma & Immunology, 2018).

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ASTHMA- U. S.
References
American Academy of Allery, Asthma & Immunology. (2018). Asthma statistics- United
States. Retrieved from https://www.aaaai.org/about-aaaai/newsroom/asthma-statistics.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2016). Data, statistics, and
surveillance- Asthma surveillance data. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/asthmadata.htm.
Malhotra, K., Baltrus, P., Zhang, S., McRoy, L., Immergluck, L. C., & Rust, G. (2014).
Geographic and racial variation in asthma prevalence and emergency department use
among Medicaid-enrolled children in 14 southern states. The Journal of asthma:
official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma, 51(9), 913-21.
Zahran, H. S., Bailey, C. M., Damon, S. A., Garbe, P. L., & Breysse, P. N. (2018). Vital
Signs: Asthma in Children — United States, 2001–2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly
Rep, 67, 149–155. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6705e1.