Asthma and African Americans

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What is Asthma?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asthma is a disease that affects your lungs. It causes repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and nighttime or early morning coughing. Asthma can be controlled by taking medicine and avoiding the triggers that can cause an attack. You must also remove the triggers in your environment that can make your asthma worse.

How Does Asthma Affect African American Populations?

From 2018-2020, 4.0 million non-Hispanic blacks (adults and children) reported that they currently have asthma.
Non-Hispanic African Americans were 30 percent more likely to have asthma than non-Hispanic whites, in 2019.
In 2020, non-Hispanic blacks were almost three times more likely to die from asthma related causes than the non-Hispanic white population.
In 2020, non-Hispanic black children had a death rate 7.6 times that of non-Hispanic white children.
Non-Hispanic black children were 4.5 times more likely to be admitted to the hospital for asthma, as compared to non-Hispanic white children, in 2019.
While all 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

Current asthma prevalence percentage, adults ages 18 and over, 2019
	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	8.6	5.8	1.5
Women	11.9	10.2	1.2
Both Sexes	10.4	8.0	1.3

Source: CDC 2022. National Health Interview Survey Data 2019. Table 4-1.
https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nhis/2019/table4-1.htm

Percentage of asthma among adults 18 years of age and over, ever being told they had asthma, 2018-2020
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
10.3	8.1	1.3

Source: CDC 2022. 2018-2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/most_recent_national_asthma_data.htm

Percentage of adults 18 years of age and over, who currently have asthma, 2021
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
10.6	8.2	1.3

Source: National Center for Health Statistics. Percentage of current asthma for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2022. National Health Interview Survey. Generated interactively: Nov 29, 2022. https://wwwn.cdc.gov/NHISDataQueryTool/SHS_adult/index.html

Death Rate

Deaths per 1,000,000, adults 18 years and over with asthma as the underlying cause, National Vital Statistics System, 2020
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
34.9	13.0	2.7

Source: CDC 2022. Division of Vital Statistics CDC WONDER. https://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html [Accessed 11/29/22]

Treatment

Estimated rate of emergency department/urgent care center visits in the past 12 months with asthma as the first listed diagnosis per 10,000 population (Adults aged =18 years), 2016-2018

Non-Hispanic Black

Non-Hispanic

White

African American / White Ratio

15.1

7.9

1.9

Source: CDC 2022. Asthma Surveillance – United States, 2006-2018. Supplementary Table 13. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/109086

Hospital admissions rate per 100,000 for asthma, adults age 18 to 39, 2019
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
82.3	22.1	3.7

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. [Accessed 11/29/2022]
https://datatools.ahrq.gov/nhqdr

Percentage of people with current asthma who are taking preventive medicine daily or almost daily, 2019
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
32.7	32.6	1.0

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. [Accessed 11/29/2022] https://datatools.ahrq.gov/nhqdr?tab=nhqdrdaqu&type=tab

Children

Age-adjusted percentage for children under 18 years of age, ever being told they had asthma, 2020
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
12.3	5.5	2.2

Source: CDC 2022. 2018-2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/most_recent_national_asthma_data.htm

Age-adjusted percentage for children under 18 years of age who currently have asthma, 2018
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
14.2	5.6	2.5

Source: CDC 2022. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table C-1a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

Current asthma prevalence percentage, children under 18 years, 2021
	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Both Sexes	12.5	5.7	2.2

Source: CDC 2022. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). https://wwwn.cdc.gov/NHISDataQueryTool/SHS_child/index.html

Estimated rate of emergency department/urgent care center visits in the past 12 months with asthma as the first listed diagnosis per 10,000 population (Children aged 0–17 years) 2016-2018

Non-Hispanic Black

Non-Hispanic

White

African American / White Ratio

26.6

12.1

2.2

Source: CDC 2022. Asthma Surveillance – United States, 2006-2018. Supplementary Table 13. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/109086

Hospital admissions rate per 100,000 for asthma, children ages 2-17, 2019
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
172.1	38.0	4.5

Source: AHRQ 2022.National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. https://datatools.ahrq.gov/nhqdr [Accessed 11/29/2022]

Death rate for children 0-17 years of age, 2020 (deaths per 1,000,000)
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
10.7	1.4	7.6

Source: CDC 2022. Data, Statistics, and Surveillance. Most Recent National Asthma Data. https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/most_recent_national_asthma_data.htm

Death rate for children 0-14 years of age, 2019 (deaths per 100,000)
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
0.8	0.1	8.0

Source: CDC 2022. CDC WONDER Online Database.
https://wonder.cdc.gov/ [Accessed 11/29/2022]

People with current asthma who received written asthma management plans from their healthcare provider (percent), 2018
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
42.9	33.8	1.3

Source: AHRQ 2022.National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. https://datatools.ahrq.gov/nhqdr [Accessed 11/29/2022]

Last Modified: 2/17/2023 3:29:00 PM

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