NIOSH

Current asthma: Estimated prevalence among non-smokers by occupation and sex, U.S. working adults aged ≥18 years, NHIS 2004–2011

OccupationTotalMaleFemale
Estimated PopulationPrevalence (%)95% Confidence IntervalEstimated PopulationPrevalence (%)95% Confidence IntervalEstimated PopulationPrevalence (%)95% Confidence Interval
Management
Chief executives; general and operations managers; legislators 1,166,255 5.9 4.0–7.7 849,133 5.3 3.2–7.3 317,122 7.5 3.5–11.4
Advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers 580,897 5.7 3.6–7.9 337,991 4.1* 1.3–6.8 242,907 8.1 4.9–11.2
Operations specialties managers 1,425,648 6.6 4.9–8.3 852,240 5.8 3.5–8.0 573,408 7.9 5.0–10.7
Other management occupations 4,790,888 6.1 5.3–7.0 2,899,947 4.9 3.9–5.9 1,890,942 8.0 6.6–9.3
Business and Financial Operations
Business operations specialists 1,780,492 7.6 6.1–9.1 768,763 5.6 3.8–7.4 1,011,729 9.1 6.9–11.2
Financial specialists 2,001,380 5.9 4.6–7.1 958,941 4.6 3.0–6.3 1,042,440 7.0 5.2–8.8
Computer and Mathematical
Computer specialists 2,403,106 7.1 5.5–8.7 1,792,569 6.3 4.4–8.2 610,537 9.5 6.9–12.1
Mathematical science occupations 117,296 6.1* 1.6–10.5 57,790 † † 59,506 7.9* 1.6–14.2
Architecture and Engineering
Architects, surveyors, and cartographers 142,743 6.4* 1.0–11.8 108,742 † † 34,001 † †
Engineers 1,244,888 5.2 3.6–6.9 1,048,809 4.4 2.8–6.0 196,079 9.6 4.3–14.8
Drafters, engineering, and mapping technicians 340,449 3.9 1.8–6.1 272,232 2.3* 0.4–4.2 68,217 10.3* 3.0–17.7
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Life scientists 226,482 5.4* 2.1–8.7 107,958 5.6* 0.9–10.3 118,524 5.2* 0.6–9.7
Physical scientists 221,192 6.9 3.4–10.4 158,870 6.1* 2.2–10.1 62,322 8.9* 1.3–16.5
Social scientists and related workers 288,997 7.8 4.4–11.3 103,826 6.1* 0.8–11.4 185,171 8.8 4.5–13.1
Life, physical, and social science technicians 181,411 5.4* 1.8–9.0 91,163 † † 90,249 5.3* 0.6–9.9
Community and Social Services
Counselors, social workers, and other community and social service specialists 1,132,432 8.0 6.1–9.9 304,468 5.1* 1.7–8.5 827,965 9.1 6.7–11.5
Religious workers 424,867 7.4 4.3–10.5 313,710 6.8 3.4–10.3 111,157 9.0* 2.7–15.3
Legal
Lawyers, judges, and related workers 698,467 6.1 3.5–8.8 471,334 5.5* 2.1–9.0 227,132 7.4 3.8–11.0
Legal support workers 396,371 7.0 4.0–9.9 69,317 † † 327,054 8.2 4.7–11.7
Education, Training and Library
Postsecondary teachers 1,007,404 7.9 5.5–10.2 510,216 6.5 3.2–9.8 497,189 9.2 6.1–12.4
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers 4,125,831 8.5 7.4–9.7 867,175 6.0 3.7–8.3 3,258,656 9.2 7.9–10.5
Other teachers and instructors 513,366 9.6 6.2–12.9 170,204 8.5* 2.2–14.7 343,162 10.1 6.3–13.9
Librarians, curators, and archivists 217,494 7.2* 2.9–11.4 37,998 – – 179,496 8.7* 3.6–13.8
Other education, training, and library occupations 721,079 8.3 5.7–10.9 60,480 7.2* 0.7–13.6 660,599 8.4 5.7–11.2
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Art and design workers 599,881 6.6 4.1–9.1 297,720 5.6* 2.2–8.9 302,161 7.7 4.0–11.3
Entertainers and performers, sports and related workers 396,517 8.1 4.2–12.1 240,468 5.5* 2.3–8.8 156,050 12.2* 3.7–20.6
Media and communication workers 520,617 8.2 5.6–10.8 207,683 5.4 2.2–8.5 312,934 10.1 6.3–13.9
Media and communication equipment workers 174,853 6.7* 2.5–11.0 136,557 † † 38,296 16.4* 4.5–28.3
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Health diagnosing and treating practitioners 3,494,467 6.9 5.9–8.0 953,525 4.6 3.0–6.3 2,540,941 7.8 6.5–9.0
Health technologists and technicians 1,381,522 6.0 4.5–7.4 297,728 2.6* 0.7–4.4 1,083,794 6.9 5.1–8.7
Other healthcare practitioners and technical 40,669 † † 30,453 – – 10,216 † †
Healthcare Support
Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides 1,099,643 7.8 5.7–9.8 139,158 6.7* 0.9–12.4 960,485 7.9 5.7–10.1
Occupational and physical therapist assistants and aides 47,606 19.2* 4.2–34.2 11,237 – – 36,369 25.1* 6.9–43.4
Other healthcare support occupations 715,413 6.3 4.2–8.4 80,220 † † 635,193 6.6 4.4–8.8
Protective Service
First-line supervisors/managers, protective service workers 145,539 9.4* 0.8–18.0 125,796 † † 19,743 † †
Fire fighting and prevention workers 186,505 6.7* 2.6–10.9 178,780 7.0* 2.7–11.3 7,725 – –
Law enforcement workers 770,501 6.4 3.9–8.8 616,461 5.4 2.8–8.0 154,040 10.3 4.6–16.0
Other protective service workers 593,110 6.1 3.5–8.6 415,490 5.0* 1.9–8.1 177,620 8.6 3.9–13.2
Food Preparation and Serving Related
Supervisors, food preparation, and serving workers 457,639 3.1 1.4–4.8 223,794 † † 233,845 5.2* 2.0–8.3
Cooks and food preparation workers 1,458,346 6.0 4.3–7.6 679,900 5.0 2.5–7.4 778,445 6.8 4.6–9.0
Food and beverage serving working 1,455,086 7.3 5.2–9.4 438,913 3.5* 1.2–5.8 1,016,173 8.9 6.2–11.7
Other food preparation and serving related workers 472,093 7.3 4.2–10.3 206,450 † † 265,643 11.2 6.3–16.2
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance
Supervisors, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers 246,880 4.8* 1.7–7.9 185,159 3.7* 0.5–6.9 61,721 8.0* 0.2–15.8
Building cleaning and pest control workers 2,288,425 5.2 4.0–6.4 931,908 4.9 2.9–6.9 1,356,518 5.3 3.9–6.8
Grounds maintenance workers 656,885 1.4* 0.3–2.4 624,230 1.2* 0.2–2.2 32,655 † †
Personal Care and Service
Supervisors, personal care and service workers 73,907 † † 27,836 † † 46,070 † †
Animal care and service workers 128,418 † † 32,836 † † 95,582 † †
Entertainment attendants and related workers 182,944 7.9* 2.5–13.3 94,558 † † 88,386 11.0* 2.9–19.0
Funeral service workers 10,586 – – † nc nc † nc nc
Personal appearance workers 561,519 6.2 3.8–8.7 82,335 † † 479,184 6.6 3.8–9.3
Transportation, tourism, and lodging attendants 94,195 † † 45,321 † † 48,874 † †
Other personal care and service workers 1,665,432 8.4 6.8–10.1 242,946 3.5* 1.2–5.7 1,422,486 9.3 7.4–11.2
Sales and Related
Supervisors, sales workers 2,077,904 5.1 4.0–6.3 1,192,817 3.5 2.1–4.8 885,087 7.3 5.2–9.4
Retail sales workers 3,668,793 6.4 5.4–7.4 1,381,916 4.4 3.0–5.9 2,286,877 7.6 6.2–8.9
Sales representatives, services 1,055,719 6.6 4.7–8.4 645,839 3.7 1.9–5.6 409,880 11.0 7.4–14.6
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing 802,710 6.3 4.1–8.5 567,287 5.3 2.7–7.9 235,424 8.7 4.3–13.2
Other sales and related workers 924,797 7.1 5.1–9.0 394,863 6.5 3.4–9.5 529,933 7.5 5.0–10.1
Office and Administrative Support
Supervisors, office and administrative support workers 761,516 6.7 4.7–8.7 223,711 7.0 3.4–10.7 537,805 6.6 4.2–8.9
Communications equipment operators 53,166 10.9* 0.8–21.0 8,809 † † 44,356 † †
Financial clerks 1,750,760 7.3 5.6–8.9 213,303 3.8* 0.9–6.6 1,537,457 7.8 5.9–9.6
Information and record clerks 2,906,903 7.7 6.5–8.9 679,805 6.9 4.2–9.5 2,227,097 7.9 6.6–9.3
Material recording, scheduling, dispatching, and distributing workers 1,999,160 7.2 5.7–8.7 1,243,503 6.1 4.3–7.9 755,657 9.0 6.4–11.6
Secretaries and administrative assistants 1,840,380 7.1 5.7–8.6 74,603 † † 1,765,776 7.2 5.7–8.7
Other office and administrative support workers 1,943,406 6.8 5.4–8.2 408,818 5.4 2.4–8.5 1,534,588 7.2 5.6–8.8
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry
Supervisors, farming, fishing, and forestry workers 41,057 † † 35,884 † † 5,173 – –
Agricultural workers 514,369 2.4 1.0–3.8 359,076 2.1* 0.4–3.9 155,293 3.0* 0.7–5.3
Fishing and hunting workers 10,762 † † 9,679 † † † nc nc
Forest, conservation, and logging workers 42,374 † † 40,437 † † † nc nc
Construction and Extraction
Supervisors, construction and extraction workers 370,404 5.3 2.3–8.3 357,314 5.1* 2.1–8.1 13,090 † †
Construction trades workers 3,106,351 4.3 3.1–5.5 3,037,825 4.2 3.0–5.4 68,525 † †
Helpers, construction trades 29,956 † † 27,105 † † 2,851 – –
Other construction and related workers 205,989 5.0* 1.1–8.9 194,260 5.1* 1.0–9.2 11,729 – –
Extraction workers 67,588 9.1* 0.3–18.0 67,588 9.1* 0.3–18.0 – nc nc
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
Supervisors of installation, maintenance, and repair workers 144,599 6.7* 1.7–11.8 132,689 7.3* 1.8–12.9 11,910 – –
Electrical and electronic equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers 402,424 4.7* 1.8–7.7 366,683 4.9* 1.6–8.1 35,741 † †
Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers 869,070 4.5 2.6–6.4 853,965 4.6 2.7–6.6 15,105 – –
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations 908,966 5.2 3.3–7.0 867,519 5.4 3.5–7.4 41,447 – –
Production
Supervisors, production workers 359,590 3.5* 1.4–5.7 272,150 3.3* 0.7–5.8 87,440 4.3* 0.3–8.3
Assemblers and fabricators 706,543 4.4 2.4–6.5 408,626 4.0* 1.6–6.3 297,917 5.1 2.2–8.0
Food processing workers 325,984 4.4* 1.6–7.1 190,969 † † 135,014 7.2* 1.8–12.6
Metal workers and plastic workers 779,263 4.2 2.1–6.2 650,235 2.8 1.2–4.4 129,028 11.1* 1.8–20.5
Printing workers 155,787 5.2* 1.7–8.7 110,948 4.2* 0.8–7.6 44,839 7.8* 0.3–15.2
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers 435,284 4.9 2.1–7.7 126,856 † † 308,428 5.5 2.7–8.3
Woodworkers 101,953 6.8* 0.2–13.3 87,599 † † 14,354 † †
Plant and system operators 103,237 4.7* 0.5–8.9 98,304 4.9* 0.5–9.3 † nc nc
Other production occupations 1,570,159 5.8 3.9–7.6 971,855 4.2 2.6–5.8 598,304 8.3 4.7–11.8
Transportation and Material Moving
Supervisors, transportation and material moving workers 84,072 8.4* 1.8–15.0 72,305 † † 11,767 28.3* 5.1–51.5
Air transportation workers 118,122 † † 102,802 † † 15,320 † †
Motor vehicle operators 1,809,837 6.0 4.5–7.4 1,505,365 4.8 3.3–6.3 304,472 11.9 7.3–16.5
Rail transportation workers 57,153 † † 56,729 † † † nc nc
Water transportation workers 13,033 † † 12,195 † † † nc nc
Other transportation workers 114,576 † † 94,740 † † 19,836 – –
Material moving workers 1,742,338 4.3 2.9–5.8 1,337,309 4.1 2.7–5.5 405,029 5.0* 0.7–9.3
Millitary 84,765 8.1* 0.8–15.5 54,462 † † 30,303 † †
Refused, Not Ascertained, Don’t Know 2,810,483 2.7 2.0–3.4 1,546,656 1.7 0.8–2.6 1,263,833 3.8 2.6–5.1
TOTAL 83,939,935 6.3 6.1–6.5 41,850,503 4.7 4.4–5.0 42,089,432 7.8 7.5–8.1

nc - not calculated

* Estimates with a relative standard error of >30% and ≤50% are statistically unstable due to small sample size and should be used with caution as they do not meet the standards of reliability.

† Estimates with a relative standard error of >50% are suppressed.

– No estimates due to no cases or no respondents.

Note:

Numbers presented are average annual estimates for the period 2004–2011. Prevalence estimates are weighted and are not age-adjusted. Estimated totals may not add up due to rounding/suppression.

Current asthma is defined as those who have ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that they had asthma and currently still have asthma at the time of the survey. Non-smokers are those who had never smoked or those who smoked <100 cigarettes during their entire life. Working adults are those who were employed in the week prior to the survey. Estimated populations represent current U.S. workers aged ≥18 years.

See Appendix for more details.

Source:

National Center for Health Statistics National Health Interview Surveys 2004 to 2011.

Citation:

NIOSH 2015. Work-Related Lung Disease Surveillance System (eWoRLD). 2015-873 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Respiratory Health Division, Morgantown, WV. Available at: <https://wwwn.cdc.gov/eWorld/Data/873> April 19, 2024.

Reference Number: 2015-873

Date Posted: October 2015

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Page last reviewed: October 23, 2015
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)