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CDC
Releases Asthma Figures
Excerpt
By Emma Hit, PhD, Reuters Health Writer
ATLANTA
(Reuters Health) - Over 14 million Americans, or 7.2% of the adult
population, reported having asthma in 2000, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has compiled the
first state-based asthma data ever collected for all 50 states,
the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
According
to the CDC, asthma ``is among the most common chronic diseases
in the United States'' and cost the nation an estimated $12.7
billion during 1998.
Asthma is
an inflammation of the airways that is aggravated by dust, pollen,
smoke and other irritants. Symptoms include shortness of breath,
wheezing, coughing and chest tightness.
The CDC gathered
the data using their Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
survey, a random-digit-dialed survey of the noninstitutionalized
US population aged 18 years or older.
During 2000,
two questions about asthma were added to the survey, which compiles
statistics on various health-related risk factors. People were
considered to have lifetime asthma if they had ever been told
by a doctor that they had asthma, but said they did not still
have asthma. Those who said they had been diagnosed with asthma
and still had asthma were defined as having current asthma.
Based on responses
from more than 180,000 people, the overall prevalence of lifetime
asthma was 10.5%, and the overall prevalence of current asthma
was 7.2%, indicating that an estimated 14.6 million American adults
currently have asthma.
Blacks reported
a higher prevalence of current asthma (8.5%) than whites (7.1%)
and persons of other race/ethnicity (5.6%).
As household
income increased, the prevalence of current asthma decreased.
The prevalence among families with annual incomes less than $15,000
was 9.8%, while 5.9% of people living in families with annual
incomes of more than $75,000 had asthma.
According
to the survey, Louisiana had the lowest prevalence of current
asthma, with 5%, and Maine had the highest prevalence, with 8.9%.
The highest prevalence of lifetime asthma was found in Puerto
Rico (15.9%), while Louisiana and South Dakota had the lowest
prevalence, with 8%.
Writing in
the August 17th issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,
the CDC also reports that women had higher rates of current asthma
than men (9% versus 5%).
``This difference
between men and women has been seen repeatedly,'' Dr. Stephen
Redd, with the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health,
told Reuters Health. ``The reasons for this difference are not
known, but I think it is probably a real finding.''
Redd suggested
that the difference in asthma prevalence between low- and high-income
families could be attributable to factors that typically affect
low-income families, such as environmental exposures to pollutants
and lack of access to high quality healthcare.
Asthma prevalence
was slightly higher than found in previous surveys, according
to Redd. ``Without having comparable data from year to year, it
would be hard to say whether the rate is increasing,'' he said,
``but the CDC plans to continue the study each year using similar
methods, so that they can compare the prevalence from year to
year.''
SOURCE:
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2001;50:682-686.
Reference
Source 89
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