Asthma prevalence among US elderly by age groups: age still matters.

Objective. For over three decades, the greatest burden of asthma deaths has occurred among persons aged 65 years and older. This study analyzed the association between increasing age and asthma prevalence among age groups within the US elderly population. Methods. We analyzed aggregated data on 54,485 civilian, noninstitutionalized US adults aged 65 years and older from the 2001–2010 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). We estimated the prevalence of current asthma, lifetime asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among US elderly by 5-year age groups and age stages (“young elderly” aged 65–84 years and “oldest old” aged ≥85 years). We calculated adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to identify asthma prevalence patterns among elderly populations. Results. From 2001 to 2010, the estimated average annual prevalence of current asthma among US elderly was 7.0%. Estimates of lifetime asthma, COPD, and co-occurring current asthma and COPD were 9.9%, 9.7%, and 3.0%, ...