Heart, Lung, Blood and Sleep Diseases and Disorders in the U.S.

Heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders affect millions of Americans. Many of these disorders, including heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma, and COPD, disproportionately affect minority groups. Below are statistics on:

• Prevalence and mortality of of common heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders
• Aggregate costs of care
• Healthcare utilization for common heart, lung, and blood conditions

                 Prevalence of Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Disorders

Heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders are among the most common and potentially fatal conditions affecting Americans. Although heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the U.S., it is more prevalent in men than women until about age 80, when women with heart disease surpass men. Many chronic heart and lung diseases have a higher prevalence in communities of color, largely due to social determinants of health.

Top Ten Leading Causes and Number of Deaths in the U.S. (2018)

Sources: NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality, CDC, and 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Data

Cardiovascular and Lung Disease Prevalence  in the U.S.

Sources: ¹2018 CDC National Asthma Data (link).

²Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—Update 2020 (link); CVD includes, but is not limited to, arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, congenital heart disease, coronary heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, hypertension, and stroke. Data collection was limited to adults ≥ 20 years old.

³2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS); constitutes 6.1% of the U.S. population ≥ 18 years old.

⁴National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2018; data limited to adults ≥ 20 years old. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure > 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure > 80 mm Hg or said “yes” to taking hypertension or was told on two occasions of having hypertension.

⁵Sickle Cell Disease Data & Statistics, CDC (link).

⁶Sleep and Sleep Disorders Data & Statistics, CDC (link); constitutes 35.2% of the U.S. population ≥ 18 years

Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease in the U.S. by Age and Sex

Source: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2018; these data include coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and hypertension.

Related Content: Heart and Vascular Diseases

Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease in Adults (≥ 20 years old) in the U.S. by Sex and Ethnicity/Race

Prevalence of Heart Failure in Adults (≥ 20 years old) in the U.S. by Gender and Ethnicity/Race

Source: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2018

Prevalence of Hypertension in Adults (≥ 20 years old) in the U.S. by Sex and Ethnicity/Race

Source: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2018. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or said “yes” to taking hypertension or was told on two occasions of having hypertension.

Prevalence of cardiovascular diseases by ethnicity and race (as % of each population)

Source: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2018. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or said “yes” to taking hypertension or was told on two occasions of having hypertension.

Related Content: Health Disparities and Inequities

Prevalence of Asthma in the U.S. by Age and Ethnicity/Race

Source: National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2018

Prevalence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in Adults (≥ 18 years old) in the U.S. by Ethnicity/Race

Source: National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2018

Prevalence of asthma and COPD by ethnicity and race (as % of the U.S. population)

Sources: 1. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2016-2018; 2. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2018

Related Content: Lung Diseases; Health Disparities and Inequities

Economic Burden of Disease Data

Care and treatment for heart and lung disorders cost Americans billions of dollars each year.

2017-18 Health Condition Expenditures: Total Annual Average (in millions)

Source: Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2017-2018. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or said “yes” to taking hypertension or was told on two occasions of having hypertension.

2017-18 Healthcare Visits: Total Annual Average Direct Cost by Condition and Type (in millions)

Source: Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2017-2018. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or said “yes” to taking hypertension or was told on two occasions of having hypertension.

2017-18 Expenditures: Total Annual Average by Sex and Condition (in millions)

Source: Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2017-2018. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or said “yes” to taking hypertension or was told on two occasions of having hypertension.

2017-18 Expenditures: Total Annual Average by Age and Condition (in millions)

Source:  Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2017-2018. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or said “yes” to taking hypertension or was told on two occasions of having hypertension.

Healthcare Utilization Data

Heart, lung, and blood conditions result in millions of hospitalizations and emergency room visits each year.

Total Number of Hospital Inpatient Discharges for Various Heart, Lung, and Blood Conditions in 2017

Source: HCUPnet, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville,MD.

*Heart failure I50. Code First. Heart Failure due to hypertension (I11.0). Heart Failure due to hypertension with chronic kidney disease (I13). 

Certain conditions have both an underlying etiology and multiple body system manifestations due to the underlying etiology. For such conditions, ICD-10-CM has a coding convention that requires the underlying condition be sequenced first followed by the manifestation. Wherever such a combination exists there is a "use additional code" note at the etiology code, and a "code first" note at the manifestation code. 

These instructional notes indicate the proper sequencing order of the codes, etiology followed by manifestation. 

 Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or said “yes” to taking hypertension or was told on two occasions of having hypertension.

Total Number of Emergency Department Visits for Various Heart, Lung, and Blood Conditions in 2016

Source: HCUPnet, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or said “yes” to taking hypertension or was told on two occasions of having hypertension.