What Are the Chances of Dying of Asthma?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), asthma causes 250,000 deaths worldwide. Specific data on worldwide asthma mortality is difficult to get, and statistics are not universally applicable. However, at a rate of 5.1 to 10 deaths per 100,000 population, the United States is representative of an upper income country that has moderate-to-high access to asthma medications.

Overall

• According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the U.S. death rate across all demographic groups in 2005, which is the latest date for which full data is available, was 1.3 per 100,000.

Race

• At 3.1 per 100,000, the death rate for non-Hispanic blacks in the U.S. almost tripled the rate of the overall population. The lowest death rate occurred in Hispanic and non-Hispanic whites, at 1.0 per 100,000.

Sex

• In 2005, a death rate of 1.5 per 100,000 women contributed approximately 66 percent of all deaths. The highest death rate occurred in black women, at 3.3 per 100,000.

Children

• In the age group under 15 years, asthma-related deaths in the U.S. are not frequent, occurring only 0.2 per 100,000.

Adults

• As age increases, death rate increases steadily, peaking in the over 85-years-old group at 14.5 per 100,000.