epidemiological trends
Last reviewed 10/2021
Trends in mortality:
- peaked in young people in 1960s:
- possibly due to over-the-counter availability of beta-agonists
- beta-agonists were non-selective and given in high, possibly toxic, doses
- inappropriate symptomatic relief probably resulted in serious asthma going undetected
- increasing death rates in old patients since 1980s:
- probably due to changes in diagnosis
- asthma used to be labelled as COAD
Trends in morbidity:
- the prevalence of asthma is increasing
- the frequency of young children presenting with asthma to the primary care and hospital systems is increasing