Percent Distribution of Number of Visits to Health Care Professionalsby Age, Sex, and Race: 1997 and 1998 statistics

[This table presents a summary measure of ambulatory and home health care visits during a 12-month period based on the following questions: "During the past 12 months, how many times have you gone to a hospital emergency room about your own health?"; "During the past 12 months, did you receive care at home from a nurse or other health care professional? What was the total number of home visits received?"; "During the past 12 months, how many times have you seen a doctor or other health care professional about your own health at a doctor's office, a clinic, or some other place? Do not include times you were hospitalized overnight, visits to hospital emergency rooms, home visits, or telephone calls." For each question respondents were shown a flashcard with response categories of: 0, 1, 2-3, 4-9, 10-12, or 13 or more visits. For this tabulation responses of 2-3 were recoded to 2 and responses of 4-9 were recoded to 6. The summary measure was constructed by adding recoded responses for these questions and categorizing the sum as: none, 1-3, 4-9, or 10 or more health care visits in the past 12 months. Based on the redesigned National Health Interview Survey, a sample survey of the civilian noninstitutionalized population. Data presented in this table are not comparable with data on physician contacts presented in previous editions of the source]


			1-3		4-9		10 or more
Characteristic	None		visits		visits		visits

	1997	1998	1997	1998	1997	1998	1997	1998

All persons ¹ ²	16.5	15.9	46.2	46.8	23.6	23.8	13.7	13.5

Age:
Under 18 years	11.8	11.7	54.1	54.5	25.2	25.6	8.9	8.2
Under 6 years	5.0	4.9	44.9	46.7	37.0	36.6	13.0	11.8
6-17 years	15.3	15.0	58.7	58.4	19.3	20.3	6.8	6.3
18-44 years	21.7	21.6	46.7	47.7	19.0	18.6	12.6	12.2
18-24 years	22.0	22.6	46.8	47.7	20.0	18.5	11.2	11.2
25-44 years	21.6	21.3	46.7	47.6	18.7	18.6	13.0	12.5
45-64 years	16.9	15.9	42.9	43.6	24.7	24.3	15.5	16.2
45-54 years	17.9	17.2	43.9	44.9	23.4	22.5	14.8	15.4
55-64 years	15.3	13.8	41.3	41.6	26.7	27.1	16.7	17.5
65 years and over	8.9	7.3	34.7	34.1	32.5	35.3	23.8	23.4
65-74 years	9.8	8.4	36.9	36.6	31.6	34.3	21.6	20.8
75 years and over	7.7	6.0	31.8	30.8	33.8	36.5	26.6	26.7

Sex: ²
Male	21.3	20.7	47.1	47.3	20.6	21.2	11.0	10.8
Female	11.8	11.3	45.4	46.4	26.5	26.3	16.3	16.0

Race: ²
White	16.0	15.5	46.1	46.8	23.9	24.1	14.0	13.6
Black	16.8	16.4	46.1	46.5	23.2	23.3	13.9	13.8
American Indian or Alaska Native	17.1	20.0	38.0	39.0	24.2	25.1	20.7	15.9
Asian or Pacific Islander	22.8	21.0	49.1	48.2	19.7	21.3	8.3	9.5

Race and Hispanic origin: ²
White, non-Hispanic	14.7	14.2	46.6	47.1	24.4	24.6	14.3	14.0
Black, non-Hispanic	16.9	16.5	46.1	46.5	23.1	23.2	13.8	13.8
Hispanic	24.9	24.0	42.3	44.8	20.3	19.7	12.5	11.5
Mexican	28.9	28.5	40.8	41.9	18.5	18.6	11.8	11.0

Health insurance status: ³ ⁴
Under 65 years of age:
Insured	14.3	(NA)	49.0	(NA)	23.6	(NA)	13.1	(NA)
Private	14.8	(NA)	50.8	(NA)	23.0	(NA)	11.4	(NA)
Medicaid	9.7	(NA)	35.0	(NA)	27.1	(NA)	28.2	(NA)
Uninsured	33.7	(NA)	42.8	(NA)	15.3	(NA)	8.2	(NA)

65 years of age and over:
Private	7.4	(NA)	36.0	(NA)	33.7	(NA)	22.9	(NA)
Medicaid	10.2	(NA)	21.0	(NA)	28.1	(NA)	40.7	(NA)
Medicare only	13.0	(NA)	35.0	(NA)	31.0	(NA)	21.1	(NA)

Geographic region: ² ⁵
Northeast	13.2	12.1	45.9	47.8	26.0	25.4	14.9	14.7
Midwest	15.9	15.6	47.7	46.9	22.8	24.2	13.6	13.3
South	17.2	17.0	46.1	46.7	23.3	23.1	13.5	13.2
West	19.1	18.3	44.8	46.0	22.8	22.9	13.3	12.9

NA Data not available as of publication date.
1 Includes other categories not shown separately.
2 Estimates are age adjusted to the year 2000 standard using six age groups: Under 18 years, 18-44 years, 45-54 years, 55-64 years, 65-74 years, and 75 years and over.
3 Estimates for persons under 65 years of age are age adjusted to the year 2000 standard using four age groups: Under 18 years,18-44 years, 45-54 years, and 55-64 years of age. Estimates for persons 65 years of age and over are age adjusted to the year 2000 standard using two age groups: 65-74 years and 75 years and over. See Appendix II, Age adjustment.
4 Health insurance categories are mutually exclusive. Persons who reported both Medicaid and private coverage are classified as having Medicaid coverage.
5 NORTHEAST: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. MIDWEST: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. SOUTH: Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. WEST: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Hawaii]

Source: U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, Health, United States, 2000.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/189_percent_distribution_of_number_of_visits.html

These tables are based on figures supplied by the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce and are subject to revision by the Census Bureau.

Copyright © 2006 Photius Coutsoukis and Information Technology Associates, all rights reserved.