U.S. states with highest lifetime asthma prevalence among adults 2020

As of 2020, the states with the highest lifetime prevalence of asthma among adults included West Virginia, Utah, and Kentucky. In West Virginia almost 17 percent of adults self-reported that they had asthma at that time. Asthma is a chronic disease affecting the airways of the lungs that can be mild or severe and can cause shortness of breath, tightness or pain in the chest, coughing, and wheezing.

The prevalence of asthma in the United States

Asthma in the United States is more common among men than women, with around 9.5 percent of women with current asthma in 2020, compared to six percent of men. Current asthma is also more common among adults than children, with those aged four years and below the least likely age group to suffer from the disease. It is unclear what exactly causes asthma; however it is believed that both environmental and genetic factors play a role. In 2020, non-Hispanic Blacks were more likely to report currently suffering from asthma than their non-Hispanic white and Hispanic counterparts.

Death from asthma

Medicine for asthma can help control the disease in the long-term and provide short-term relief from symptoms. Therefore, deaths from asthma in the United States are rare, with it being the underlying cause of death in about one out of every 100,000 population. The states with the highest death rates from asthma are Mississippi, Hawaii, and New Mexico. In 2019, there were a total of 3,524 deaths due to asthma in the United States.