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Chronic Disease Prevention

Chronic Diseases in the United States

• Chronic diseases account for 70 percent of all deaths in the United States and the medical care costs account for more than 60 percent of the nation's medical care costs.
• More than 90 million Americans live with chronic illnesses.
• Chronic diseases are long-term illnesses that are rarely cured completely. Most chronic diseases can be prevented or improved by avoiding risky behaviors such as smoking and poor nutrition, or by increasing physical activity and obtaining life-saving screening services.
• Asthma affects more than 15 million Americans. The projected cost of asthma in this country for the year 2000 was $14.5 billion.
• An estimated 16 million Americans have diabetes, and about one-third of them are unaware of it. Diabetes accounts for more than $98 billion in direct and indirect medical costs and lost productivity each year.
• Osteoporosis results in more than 1.5 million fractures each year and the estimated annual direct expenditure for osteoporosis and related fractures is $14 billion.
• According to the CDC, each $1 spent on diabetes outpatient education saves $2 to $3 in hospitalization costs.
• In addition to the financial costs, chronic diseases account for one third of the years of potential life lost before age 65; and chronic diseases are among the leading causes of disability among U.S. adults.

Healthy People 2010 Objectives

Healthy People 2010 is the prevention agenda for the nation. It is a statement of national health objectives designed to identify the most significant preventable threats to health and to establish national goals to reduce these threats. Healthy People 2010 offers a simple but powerful idea: provide the objectives in a format that enables diverse groups to combine their efforts and work as a team. It is a road map to better health for all and can be used to improve health by many different individuals and groups like state legislatures, state agencies, communities and professional organizations.

• Reduce asthma deaths in children under age 5 years from 1.7 per million to 1.0 per million in 2010.
• Reduce asthma deaths in children aged 5 to 14 years from 3.2 per million to 1.0 per million in 2010.
• Reduce asthma deaths in adolescents and adults aged 15 to 34 years from 5.9 per million to 3.0 per million in 2010.
• Reduce asthma deaths in adults aged 35 to 64 years from 17 per million to 9 per million in 2010.
• Reduce asthma deaths in adults aged 65 years and older from 87.5 per million to 60.0 per million in 2010.
• Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in children under age 5 years from 60.9 per 10,000 to 25 per 10,000 in 2010.
• Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in children and adults aged 5 to 64 years from 13.8 per 10,000 to 8 per 10,000 in 2010.
• Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in adults aged 65 years and older from 19.3 per 10,000 to 10 per 10,000 in 2010.
• Reduce hospital emergency department visits for asthma in children under age 5 years from 150 per 10,000 to 80 per 10,000 in 2010.
• Reduce hospital emergency department visits for asthma in children and adults aged 5 to 64 years from 71.1 per 10,000 to 50 per 10,000 in 2010.
• Reduce hospital emergency department visits for asthma in adults aged 65 years and older from 29.5 per 10,000 to 15 per 10,000 in 2010.
• Reduce activity limitations among people with asthma from 19.5 percent to 10 percent in 2010.
• Reduce the number of school or work days missed by people with asthma due to asthma.
• Increase the proportion of people with asthma who receive formal patient education, including information about community and self-help resources, as an essential part of the management of their condition from 6.4 percent to 30 percent in 2010.
• Increase the proportion of people with asthma who receive appropriate asthma care according to the NAEPP Guidelines.
• Establish in at least 15 states a surveillance system for tracking asthma death, illness, disability, impact of occupational and environmental factors on asthma, access to medical care and asthma management.

• Increase the proportion of people with diabetes who receive formal diabetes education from 45 percent to 60 percent in 2010.
• Reduce diabetes from 3.5 new cases per 1,000 per year to 2.5 new cases per 1,000 per year in 2010.
• Reduce the overall rate of diabetes that is clinically diagnosed from 40 overall cases per 1,000 to 25 overall cases per 1,000 in 2010.
• Increase the proportion of adults with diabetes whose condition has been diagnosed from 68 percent of adults aged 20 years and older to 80 percent in 2010.
• Reduce the diabetes death rate from 75 deaths per 100,000 people to 45 deaths per 100,000 people in 2010.
• Reduce diabetes-related deaths among people with diabetes from 8.8 deaths per 1,000 people to 7.8 deaths per 1,000 people in 2010.
• Reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes from 343 deaths per 100,000 people to 309 deaths per 100,000 people in 2010.
• Decrease the proportion of pregnant women with gestational diabetes.

• Reduce the overall number of cases of osteoporosis from 10 percent to 8 percent by 2010.
• Reduce the proportion of adults aged 65 and older who are hospitalized for vertebral fractures associated with osteoporosis from 17.5 per 10,000 to 14 per 10,000 by 2010.

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