Severe Asthma

Despite vast improvements in the care of children with asthma over the past decades, asthma remains a common cause of admission to pediatric intensive care units. During the 1990s asthma prevalence and hospital admissions increased in the United States and worldwide. The increase occurred in both males and females and across all ethnic groups. However, the largest increases occurred in children of low socioeconomic status living in urban settings. Recent asthma statistics should be interpreted with consideration of changes made in the method for reporting asthma prevalence (Fig. 23-1). From 1980 to 1996, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) conducted by the CDC measured pediatric asthma prevalence as the percentage of children with asthma in the past 12 months. Since 1997, asthma prevalence estimates have been defined as: having received an asthma diagnosis, currently having the disease at the time of the interview, and experiencing an attack in the past year. The more specific definition may have led to a reduction in the number of children reported to have asthma.