Chronic Disease Statistics

7.0 million (9.4%) U.S. children have asthma [source]
12.8 million school days were missed due to asthma among children 5-17 years old in 2003 [source]
754,000 emergency department visits were related to child asthma in 2004 [source]
16.4 million (7.3%) adults currently have asthma [source]
1.8 million visits to emergency departments were related to asthma in 2004 [source]

7,900 (7.5%) hospice patients have Alzheimer's as a primary diagnosis [source]
231,900 (15.5%) nursing home residents have Alzheimer's Disease [source]
72,432 annual deaths are due to Alzheimer’s Disease [source]
Cause of Death Rank: 7 [source]
2.4 million - 4.5 million Americans are affected by Alzheimer's disease [source]

191,410 new female breast cancer cases are diagnosed per year. [source]
40,820 female breast cancer deaths occurred in 2006. [source]
2,591,855 American women were alive in 2007 who had a history of breast cancer [source]
Cause of Death Rank for Women: 2 [source]
Breast cancer in the United States is the most common cancer in women, no matter your race or ethnicity. [source]

10% of adults 20 years+ have diabetes (diagnosed or undiagnosed) [source]
7.7% of adults 20 years+ have diagnosed diabetes [source]
28.6 million medical visits have diabetes as a primary diagnosis [source]
362,000 (24%) nursing home residents have diabetes in the U.S. [source]
72,449 annual deaths are due to diabetes in the U.S. [source]
Cause of Death Rank: 6 [source]
$174 billion is the estimated total annual cost of diabetes in America [source]
$116 billion is the total direct annual medical costs due to diabetes in the U.S. [source]
$58 billion is the total indirect annual costs (disability, work loss, premature mortality) due to diabetes in the U.S. [source]
23.6 million people in the U.S. have diabetes. [source]
5.7 million people have undiagnosed diabetes in the U.S. [source]
1.6 million: Number of new cases of diabetes diagnosed in people aged 20 years+ in 2007. [source]
1 in 3: ratio of Americans who will develop diabetes in their lifetime [source]

2.5 million Americans are affected by Epilepsy. [source]
10% of people will experience a seizure sometime during their lifetime. [source]
150,000 new cases of epilepsy are diagnosed in the United States annually. [source]
$15.5 billion: Estimated annual medical costs and lost or reduced earnings and production due to Epilepsy in the U.S. [source]

67% of adults age 20 years+ are overweight or obese [source]
34% of adults age 20 years+ are obese [source]
18% of adolescents age 12-19 years are overweight [source]
15% of children age 6-11 years are overweight [source]
11% of children age 2-5 years are overweight [source]
32.5% of adults engaged in regular leisure-time physical activity in the U.S. in 2008. [source]
36% of adults engaged in no leisure-time physical activity in the U.S. in 2008. [source]

9 out of 10 adults have difficulty using the everyday health information that is routinely available in our healthcare facilities, retail outlets, media and communities. [source]
71% of adults age 60+ have difficulty using print materials in prose form [source]
80% of adults age 60+ have difficulty using documents such as forms or charts [source]
68% of adults age 60+ have difficulty with quantitative tasks [source]

26.6 million (12%) adults have heart disease in the United States [source]
16 million annual medical visits have heart disease as primary diagnosis in the U.S. [source]
147,600 (11%) home healthcare patients with heart disease as primary diagnosis [source]
631,636 annual deaths are due to heart disease in the U.S. [source]
Cause of death rank: 1 [source]

Data and Documentation