The number and rate of asthma deaths reported prior to 1979 are not directly comparable to those reported after 1979. Although time trends covering different revisions of the code should be examined separately, it is important to note that increases in mortality attributed to asthma have been sustained through changes in the code and have been consistent since 1979. Table 1 documents the trend in age-adjusted asthma mortality between 1970 and 1998. Overall, the age-adjusted death rate increased from 0.9 per 100,000 in 1979 to 1.4 per 100,000 in 1998, a 55.6 percent increase. Trends in Sex and Race Specific Mortality Rates Between 1979 and 1998, the age-adjusted mortality rate for asthma increased 33 percent in males, from 0.9 to 1.2, and increased 67 percent in females, from 0.9 to 1.5 per 100,000 population.
Females tend to have higher asthma mortality rates.
In 1998, the female death rate was 25 percent greater than the rate seen in males. Figure 1 illustrates the age-adjusted death rate by sex from 1970 to 1998. Between 1979 and 1998, the age-adjusted asthma mortality rate has increased 12.5 percent in white males and 50 percent in white females. During the same period, the age-adjusted mortality rate increased by 78.9 percent in black males and 90 percent in black females. Table 2 summarizes the trend in the crude death rate by sex and race from 1970 to 1998.