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Economic Burden of Asthma

Prevalence of Asthma in the United States

  • Asthma is a life-threatening lung disease in which airways become inflamed, leading to breathing difficulties (e.g., wheezing, shortness of breath).1 An estimated 20 million Americans suffer from asthma.2 According to the latest research, 10 million suffer specifically from allergic asthma.3
  • Asthma prevalence has been increasing since the early 1980s in all ages and racial groups, and in both sexes.4 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of asthma sufferers more than doubled from 6.7 million in 1980 to 17 million in 1998.

Impact of Uncontrolled Asthma: ER Visits, Hospitalization & Deaths People with difficult-to-control asthma comprise the majority of asthma-associated costs, with 80% of asthma-associated costs driven by 20% of the asthma population. According to analyses from the American Lung Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asthma-related mortality increased 50% from 1980 to the mid-'90s. On an annual basis, asthma accounts for approximately:

  • 5,000 deaths6
  • As many as 14 people in the United States suffer a fatal asthma attack everyday
  • 500,000 hospitalizations4
  • 1.8 million emergency department visits5
  • 14 million missed school days, 14.5 million missed work days6 and 100 million days of restricted activity annually7
  • 7.4 million asthma patients report at least one unscheduled medical visit in a one year period5

Economic Impact of Asthma

  • According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, direct and indirect financial costs for all forms of asthma total $14 billion, including $9.4 billion in direct costs and $4.6 billion in indirect costs (missed school and work days).8

Footnotes:

(1) American Lung Association. Executive Summary: The American Lung Association Asthma Survey, 1998.

(2) Asthma Prevalence, Health Care Use, and Mortality, 2000-2001, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(3) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Fact Sheet #9 "ASTHMA and its Environmental Triggers: Scientists Take A Practical New Look at a Familiar Illness." July 1997

(4) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: CDC Surveillance Summaries, "Surveillance for Asthma: United States, 1960-1995"; Vol. 47: 1998

(5) American Lung Association. Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, Research and Scientific Affairs. Trends in Asthma Morbidity and Mortality. March 2003.

(6) US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance for asthma: United States, 1980-1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2002;51(SS01):1-13.

(7) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Expert Panel Report 2: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma. NIH Publication 97-5051, July 1997

(8) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Morbidity and Mortality: 2002 Chart Book on Cardiovascular, Lung, and Blood Diseases