Asthma Prevalence among Pregnant and Childbearing-aged Women in the United States: Estimates from National Health Surveys

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Abstract

PURPOSE: Asthma is a major complication of pregnancy, but there are currently no reliable national estimates for the United States of asthma prevalence in pregnancy or in the childbearing years.

METHODS: The prevalence of asthma among pregnant women and all childbearing-aged women was estimated and examined by age group using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 1997–2000, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 2000–2001, and the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), 1988–1994. Time trends were explored using NHANES II (1976–1980) and NHANES III (1988–1994).

RESULTS: Asthma was estimated to affect from 88,573 to 190,650 pregnant women between 1997 and 2001, or approximately 3.7% to 8.4% of pregnant women in the United States. A slightly lower estimate of 3.2% was obtained for the period between 1988 and 1994. Among adult women of childbearing age, a two-fold increase in asthma from 2.9% to 5.8% occurred between 1976–1980 and 1988–1994. Among women aged 18 to 24, the increase was three-fold, from 1.8% to 6.0%.

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of asthma during pregnancy may be higher than previously estimated and appears to be continuing to increase.

Section snippets

INTRODUCTION

Asthma is reported to be the most common obstructive pulmonary disease of pregnancy and one of the most common serious medical conditions to complicate pregnancy 1., 2.. Trends in asthma prevalence in the United States have increased over the past several decades, particularly among younger age groups, suggesting a concurrent increase in prevalence in the pregnant population 3., 4.. Nevertheless, there are currently no reliable estimates of the prevalence of asthma during pregnancy in the

Inclusion Criteria

A search conducted in Medline from 1966 through February 2002 using the search terms “asthma,” “pregnancy,” “prevalence” and “national health surveys” confirmed that no previous estimates for asthma during pregnancy had been derived from national health surveys. All health surveys available through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) were explored for direct inquiries to respondents about pregnancy and current asthma status. We excluded the

Estimates of Asthma Prevalence during Pregnancy

We derived estimates of the prevalence of asthma in pregnant and all childbearing-aged women from the following unweighted numbers of women 18 to 44 years of age: 107,425 in the 2000–2001 BRFSS, 38,073 in the 1997–2000 NHIS, and 4957 in NHANES III. The weighted proportion of current pregnancy among all women aged 18 to 44 years of age ranges from 4.4% in the 1997–2000 NHIS to 5.7% in NHANES III. Age adjustment did not substantially change any of the results, and unadjusted estimates will be

DISCUSSION

Data from the US national health surveys demonstrate that the prevalence of asthma during pregnancy is currently between 3.7% (NHIS, 95% CI, 2.7%, 4.7%) and 8.4% (BRFSS, 95% CI, 7.1%, 9.8%). The prevalence appears to be increasing, as indicated by increasing prevalence among younger pregnant women in these data, as well as increasing trends over time in women of childbearing age in NHANES. In marked contrast, a recent study of hospital discharge records for 447,963 singleton live births in New

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