|
|
|
Asthma
MDAdvice.com
Home > Health Topics
> Informative Material
>
Asthma and Allergy Statistics
- From 1990 to 1994, the number of people with self-reported asthma in the U.S.
increased from 10.4 million to 14.6 million [1,2].
- Asthma was the first-listed diagnosis in 468,000 U.S. hospital admissions in 1993
[3].
- Asthma affected an estimated 4.8 million U.S. children (under age 18) in
1994. Asthmatic youngsters under age 15 underwent 159,000 hospitalizations in 1993, with
an average length of stay of 3.4 days [2,3].
- Asthma is 26% more prevalent in black children than in white children.
Black children with asthma experience more severe disability and have more frequent
hospitalizations than do white children [4,5].
- Among 5-24 year olds, the asthma death rate nearly doubled from 1980 to 1993. In
1993, blacks in this age group were 4 to 6 times more likely to die from asthma
than whites; and males were 1.5 times at greater risk than females [6].
- Asthma treatment cost an estimated $6.2 billion in 1990, including direct and
indirect expenditures; 43% of that total cost was associated with emergency room use,
hospitalization, and death. Loss of school days, alone, caused decreased productivity that
cost an estimated $1 billion [7].
- While there are no solid statistics, estimates from a skin test survey suggest that allergies
affect as many as 40 to 50 million people in the U.S.[8].
- Allergy testing was listed as the reason for 1.4 million office visits to
physicians in 1991 [9].
- Pollen allergy (hay fever or allergic rhinitis) affects nearly 9.3% of the people
in the U.S., not including those with asthma [2]. Allergic rhinitis was the reason for 7.6
million office visits to physicians in 1992 [9]. The estimated direct and indirect costs
of hay fever in the U.S. in 1990 totalled $1.8 billion [10].
- Allergic dermatitis (itchy rash) is the most common skin condition in children
younger than 11 years of age [11]. The percentage of American children diagnosed with
it has increased from 3% in the 1960s to 10% in the 1990s [12].
- Urticaria (hives; raised areas of reddened skin that become itchy) and angioedema
(swelling of throat tissues) together affect approximately 15% of the U.S. population
every year [12].
- More than 1,000 systemic allergic reactions to natural rubber latex, including 15
deaths, were reported to the FDA from 1988 to 1992. Case follow-ups showed that the
reactions were caused by residual rubber tree proteins in medical devices such as rubber
gloves and catheters. Most (82%) allergic reactions to latex are caused by rubber
additives [13].
- Chronic sinusitis, most often caused by allergies, affects nearly 35 million
people in the U.S. [2].
- Allergic drug reactions, commonly caused by antibiotics such as penicillin and
cephalosporins, occur in 2 to 3% of hospitalized patients [14].
- Eight percent of children younger than 6 years experience food intolerances. Of
this group, 2 to 4% appear to have reproducible allergic reactions to food. In adults, an
estimated 1 to 2% are sensitive to foods or food additives [15].
- A severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis occurs in 0.5 to 5% of the U.S.
population as a result of insect stings. At least 40 deaths per year result from
insect sting anaphylaxis [16].
Prepared by:
Office of Communications
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892
Public Health Service
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
|
