Mortality

Around 250,000 deaths from asthma are reported each year although this figure does not appear to correlate well with prevalence (1).

There were 1,131 deaths from asthma in the UK in 2009 out of which 12 were children aged 14 years or under (2).

• on average, 3 people per day (around 1 person every 8 hours) die due to asthma
• around 90% of the deaths from asthma are preventable (2).

There has been a recent fall in asthma mortality. This is particularly true of the people aged under 65 years, for whom the age-standardised mortality rate has fallen by about 20% in the decade to 1992.

Further reduction in the rate of asthma mortality requires:

• asthma must be diagnosed
• patients must be educated to understand asthma
• follow up is imperative
• prophylaxis - must be the mainstay of treatment
• the patient must be able to recognise deterioration
• doctors, patients and families must recognise the need for emergency treatment.

Reference:

1. Global Initiative for Asthma (2023). Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention
2. Asthma UK (2011). Key facts and statistics