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State Health Compare

Prevalence of Diabetes, CVD and Asthma in Adults

Measure Overview

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 75% of American adults live with at least one type of chronic disease, which can include, but are not limited to, conditions such as asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart attack, hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). A general chronic disease definition from the CDC is a condition that lasts 1 year or more and requires ongoing medical attention and/or limited activities of daily living. 

At the individual level, understanding the number of people living with chronic disease can indicate where and which populations might have higher rates of health care utilization, be reporting poorer physical or mental health status, and/or have limited physical activity or ability. On a broader scale, examining rates of chronic disease can help inform trends in health care costs and spending, understand mortality rates, and research of disease prevalence over time. 

Chronic Disease Prevalence by State, Coverage Type, and More: Breakdowns and Data Source 


State Health Compare provides annual, state-level estimates of the percent of the adult population who report having one or more of the following specific chronic diseases: diabetes, CVD, heart attack, stroke, and asthma. These estimates come from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. 

Four breakdowns are available for this measure: Coverage Type, Education, Race/Ethnicity, and Sexual Orientation.

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COVID-19 Impact

Studying the Impact of COVID-19: State-Level Data Resources on State Health Compare

This blog provides a high-level overview of a range of data measures currently housed in SHADAC’s online data tool, State Health Compare, as well as a number of related resources that provide more in-depth analysis for certain measures. Notably, estimates for each of the measures listed are available for subpopulations that often highlight persistent disparities in health—a feature that may prove especially useful as calls to further break down data related to COVID-19 into subcategories (e.g., gender, age, race/ethnicity, etc.) to track the impact of the disease on specific populations have increased.