Asthma and American Indians/Alaska Natives

American Indian/Alaska Native adults were 60% more likely to be diagnosed with asthma, in 2006.
The death rate for American Indian/Alaska Native adults in 2003 was 80% higher than for non-Hispanic Whites.
American Indian/Alaska Native children had a 20% higher rate of asthma occurrence from 2003-2005.
Data on asthma conditions for American Indian/Alaska Natives is limited.

At a glance – Diagnosed:

**Percentage of asthma among persons 18 years of age and over, 2006**
American Indian/Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic White	American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic White Ratio
18.1	11.5	1.6

Source: CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 4.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf

**Percentage of adults 18 years of age and over with asthma, 2004-2006**
American Indian/Alaska Native	White	American Indian/Alaska Native White Ratio
10.2	9.1	1.1

Source: : CDC 2008. Health characteristics of the Asian adult population: United States, 2004–2006. Table 4.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad394.pdf

**Percent of current asthma prevalence, 2005**
American Indian/Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic White	American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic White Ratio
9.2	7.6	1.2

Source: CDC 2006. Health E-Stats. Asthma Prevalence, Health Care Use and Mortality: United States, 2003-05. Figure 1.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/ashtma03-05/asthma03-05.htm

**Percent of lifetime asthma diagnosis, 2005**
American Indian/Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic White	American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic White Ratio
12.1	11.3	1.1

Source: CDC 2006. Health E-Stats. Asthma Prevalence, Health Care Use and Mortality:United States, 2003-05. Figure 3.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/ashtma03-05/asthma03-05.htm

At a glance – Death Rate:

**Number of asthma deaths per 100,000 population, 2003**
American Indian/Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic White	American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic White Ratio
2.0	1.1	1.8

Source: CDC 2006. Health E-Stats. Asthma Prevalence, Health Care Use and Mortality: United States, 2003-05. Figure 7.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/ashtma03-05/asthma03-05.htm

At a Glance – Treatment:

The most recent National Surveillance for Asthma does not include data for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Source: CDC 2007. National Surveillance for Asthma - United States, 1980-2004.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/ss/ss5608.pdf

At a Glance – Children:

**Age-adjusted percentages for children under 18 years of age, ever being told they had asthma, 2006**
American Indian/Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic White	American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic White Ratio
7.2*	12.8	0.7*

*Estimates have a high relative standard error and should be used with caution as they do not meet the standards of reliability set by the CDC

Source: CDC, 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2006. Table 1.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_234.pdf

**Asthma prevalence among children 0–17 years of age, 2003-2005**
American Indian/Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic White	American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic White Ratio
9.9	8.0	1.2

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

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Content Last Modified: 1/30/2008 11:46:00 AM