Asthma Medication Use Among Adults with Reported Treatment for Asthma, United States, 1998-1999 and 2008-2009. Statistical Brief No. 378.

摘要

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease in which the lungs become inflamed and constricted. Between 1998-1999 and 2008-2009, the number of adults who reported treatment for asthma almost doubled from 5.5 million (2.7 percent of those age 18 and older) in 1998-1999 to 10.3 million (4.5 percent) in 2008-2009. Appropriate medications are essential for the adequate management of the disease. Treatment guidelines recommend the use of relievers, as required, to treat intermittent asthma, and the use of relievers in conjunction with controllers to treat persistent asthma. Oral corticosteroids (OCS) are used in the treatment of the most severe asthma symptoms that dont respond to other medications or for severe exacerbations. This report examines the percentage of adults (age 18 and older) with reported treatment for asthma in 1998-1999 and in 2008-2009 by selected demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Treated prevalence of asthma may differ across groups of adults both because of differences in the underlying prevalence of the disease and because of differences in access to medical care, as well as differences in the attitudes and beliefs affecting the use of medical care. In addition this report examines the use of asthma medications among persons with reported treatment for asthma by the same demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.