Asthma and Asian Americans

• In 2018, 572,000 Asian Americans reported that they currently have asthma.
• Asian Americans generally have lower rates of asthma than the white population.
• Data on asthma conditions for Asian Americans is limited.
• While all of the causes of asthma remain unclear, children exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke exposure are at increased risk for acute lower respiratory tract infections, such as bronchitis. Children living below or near the poverty level are more likely to have high levels of blood cotinine, a breakdown product of nicotine, than children living in higher income families.1

Diagnosed

Percentage of asthma among persons 18 years of age and over, currently have asthma, 2018
Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
3.7	8.0	0.5

Percentage of asthma among persons 18 years of age and over, ever being told they had asthma, 2018
Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
7.8	14.2	0.5

Percentage of adults 18 years of age and over with asthma, 2004-2006
	Population	White	Population / White Ratio
Total Asian	8.0	11.0	0.7
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander & other	10.2	11.0	0.9
Chinese	5.9	11.0	0.5
Filipino	10.7	11.0	1.0
Asian Indian	7.7	11.0	0.7
Japanese	8.3	11.0	0.8
Vietnamese	7.1	11.0	0.6
Korean	6.9	11.0	0.6

Death Rate

Deaths per 100,000, with asthma as the underlying cause, National Vital Statistics System, 2019
Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
0.7	0.8	0.9

Treatment

Hospital admissions rate per 100,000 for asthma, adults ages 18 to 39, United States, 2017
Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
7.4	23.6	0.3

Percentage of people with current asthma who are taking preventive medicine daily or almost daily, 2016
Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
10.5	22.9	0.5

Children

Age-adjusted percentage for children under 18 years of age, ever being told they had asthma, 2018
Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
8.2	9.4	0.9

Hospital admissions rate per 100,000 for asthma, children ages 2-17, United States, 2017
Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
46.9	41.9	1.1

Age-adjusted percentage for children under 18 years of age, who currently have asthma, 2018
Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
3.9	5.6	0.7

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1 Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table C-1a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm (Back to top)
* NOTE: This is the most recent national data which is available at this time.