Prevalence of Selected Chronic Conditions: United States, 1990-92

This report presents an update of the prevalence of selected chronic conditions in the United States. The purpose of the report is to provide prevalence data by age, sex and age, by race and age, by family income, and by geographic region for major chronic conditions systems. The report also presents the percent of selected conditions that cause activity limitations, the percent for which a physician was consulted, and the percent that cause hospitalization. Conditions with the highest prevalence and those causing the most disability days are also analyzed.

Information for this report is based on data collected during the National Health Interview Survey for the years 1990, 1991, and 1992.

Data Highlights:

Deformities or orthopedic impairments was the most frequent chronic condition reported with almost 35 million conditions. Other conditions high in prevalence were chronic sinusitis, arthritis, and high blood pressure with annual averages of 33.7, 31.8, and 27.6 million conditions, respectively. Mental retardation and multiple sclerosis caused the highest percents of activity limitation among persons afflicted, 87.5 percent and 69.4 percent respectively.

Deformities and other orthopedic impairments, arthritis, and heart disease caused the highest numbers of restricted activity days and bed disability days per year; whereas, malignant neoplasms of the lung, bronchus, and other respiratory sites caused the highest number of restricted activity days per year, per condition reported, 96.1 days.

In little more than a decade, the prevalence rate from asthma had increased almost 50 percent and the rate from chronic bronchitis had increased 46 percent.

This page last reviewed January 11, 2007