Asthma - The Office of Minority Health

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Asthma and Hispanic Americans

In 2015, 2.2 million Hispanics reported that they currently have asthma.
Puerto Rican Americans have almost twice the asthma rate as compared to the overall Hispanic population.
Hispanics are twice as likely to visit the emergency department for asthma, as compared to non-Hispanic whites.
Puerto Rican children are twice as likely to have asthma, as compared to non-Hispanic whites.
Hispanic children are twice as likely to die from asthma, as compared to non-Hispanic whites.
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.

Diagnosed

**Current asthma prevalence percentage, adults ages 18 and over, 2015**
	Population	Non-Hispanic White	Population / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Hispanic	5.9	7.9	0.7
Puerto Rican	13.6	7.9	1.7
Mexican	5.3	7.9	0.7

Source: CDC 2017. National Health Interview Survey Data 2015. Table 4-1
http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nhis/2015/table4-1.htm

**Percentage of asthma among persons 18 years of age and over, ever being told they had asthma, 2015**
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	8.4	11.7	0.7
Women	12.1	15.2	0.8
Both Sexes	10.3	13.5	0.8

Source: CDC 2017. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2015. Table A-2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

**Percent of current asthma prevalence, adults ages 18 years and over, 2015**
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	4.2	5.6	0.8
Women	7.6	10.2	0.7
Both Sexes	5.9	7.8	0.7

Source: CDC 2017. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2015. Table A-2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

Death Rate

**Deaths per 100,000, with asthma as the underlying cause, National Vital Statistics System, 2013**
Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
0.8	0.9	0.9

Source: CDC 2016. Deaths: Final Data for 2014. Table 17.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr65/nvsr65_04.pdf [PDF | 4.38MB]

**Rate of asthma deaths per 100,000 population, 2003**
	Population	Non-Hispanic White	Population / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Total Hispanic	1.3	1.1	1.2
Puerto Rican	4.4	1.1	4.0
Mexican	0.8	1.1	0.7

Source: CDC 2006. Health E-Stats. Asthma Prevalence, Health Care Use and Mortality: United States, 2003-05. Figure 7.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/asthma03-05/asthma03-05.htm

Treatment:

**Estimated rate of emergency department visits with asthma as the first listed diagnosis per 10,000 population, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2009**
Hispanic	White	Hispanic/White Ratio
13.3	6.4	2.1

Source: CDC 2012. National Surveillance for Asthma - United States, 2001-2010. Table 14
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_03/sr03_035.pdf [PDF | 910.46KB]

**Hospital admissions rate for asthma, adults age 18 to ocer 39, United States, 2013**
Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
35.9	39.3	0.9

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query: Table 5_4_1_7_1.2a [Accessed 03/01/2017]
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query

**People with current asthma who are now taking preventive medicine daily or almost daily, United States, 2012**
Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
16.1	222.6	0.7

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query: Table 2_9_3_1_1.1 [Accessed 04/28/2016]
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query

Children

**Age-adjusted percentages for children under 18 years of age, ever being told they had asthma, 2015**
	Population	Non-Hispanic White	Population/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Hispanic	12.7	11.7	1.1
Mexican	11.7	11.7	1.0

Source: CDC 2017. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2015. Table C-1.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

**Age-adjusted percentages for children under 18 years of age, who currently have asthma, 2015**
	Population	Non-Hispanic White	Population/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Hispanic	8.0	7.3	1.1
Mexican	7.3	7.3	1.0

Source: CDC 2017. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2015. Table C-1.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

**Current asthma prevalence percentage, children ages 18 and under, 2015**
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Boys	8.8	8.7	1.0
Girls	7.1	6.0	1.2
Both Sexes	8.0	7.4	1.1

Source: CDC 2017. National Health Interview Survey Data 2015 Table 4-1
http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nhis/2015/table4-1.htm

**Current asthma prevalence percentage, children ages 18 and under, 2015**
	Population	Non-Hispanic White	Population / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Hispanic	8.0	7.4	1.1
Puerto Rican	13.9	7.4	1.9
Mexican	7.3	7.4	1.0

Source: CDC 2017. National Health Interview Survey Data 2015. Table 4-1
http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nhis/2015/table4-1.htm

**Hospital admissions rate for asthma, children ages 2-17, United States, 2013**
Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
102.9	60.9	1.7

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query: Table 5_4_1_7_2.2a [Accessed 03/01/2017]
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query

**Death rates for children 0–17 years of age, 2003-2005 (deaths per 1,000,000)**
Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
1.8	1.3	1.4

Source: CDC 2006. The State of Childhood Asthma, United States, 1980–2005. Table B.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad381.pdf [PDF | 365KB]

**Death rates for children 0-17 years of age, 2012-2014 (deaths per 1,000,000)**
Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
0.2	0.1	2.0

Source: CDC 2016. Health Data Interactive [Accessed 04/28/2016]
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hdi.htm

**The proportional impact of asthma prevalence, health care use and mortality among children 0–17 years of age, by race and ethnicity, United States, 2003–2004**
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Current prevalence (2004-2005)	90%	92%	1.0
Emergency department visit rate	109%	66%	1.7
Death rate	69%	50%	1.4

Source: CDC 2006. The State of Childhood Asthma, United States, 1980–2005. Table VIII.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad381.pdf [PDF | 365KB]

Last Modified: 3/13/2017 2:21:00 PM

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