Includes bibliographical references (p. 493-495) and index.
Contents:
CHAPTER 1. ADDICTIONS: -- Men Are More Likely than Women to Smoke -- Health Professionals Are Advising Smokers to Quit By 12th Grade -- By 12th Grade Most Teens Have Tried Cigarettes -- Drinking Varies by Demographics -- Most High School Students Have Tried Alcohol -- Marijuana Is the Most Commonly Used Illicit Drug -- Twenty Percent of High School Students Have Smoked Pot -- Teen Drug Use Increased in the Past Decade -- Most Addicts Do Not Get the Treatment They Need -- CHAPTER 2. AGING: -- Women Are More Likely to Get Nipped and Tucked -- Twenty One percent of Adults are Caregivers -- Demand for Assisted Living Facilities is likely to Grow -- Most Nursing Home Residents are Older Women -- CHAPTER 3. ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: -- Most Americans Have Used Some Type of Alternative Therapy -- Alternative Therapies Are Most Commonly Used for Back Problems -- CHAPTER 4. ATTITUDES TOWARD HEALTH CARE: -- Fewer Americans Have Confidence in the Medical Community -- Most People Say Their Health Is Very Good or Excellent -- Inability to Pay for Health Care Is a Problem for Many -- Many Patients Want More Time with Health Care Providers -- Most Patients Say Providers Always Explain, Listen and Show Respect -- Americans Rate Their Health Care Provider Highly -- Most Americans get some Health Information Online -- Americans have mixed Feelings about Quality of Health Care Coverage -- Americans Worry about paying for Health Care Costs -- CHAPTER 5. BIRTHS: -- Only 63 Percent of Pregnancies Result in Live Births -- Many Americans Support Abortion Rights -- More Women Are Childless -- Birth Rate Has Risen Since the late 1990s -- More than One Million Women had their First Baby in 2002 -- More than One-Third of Newborns Are Hispanic or Black -- Thirty Four percent of Births Are to Unmarried Women -- Delayed Childbearing can lead to Difficulties -- Less Educated Women take risks during Pregnancy -- CHAPTER 6. HEALTH CARE COVERAGE AND COST: -- Health Care Costs Have Grown Rapidly -- Americans Are Less Likely to Be Covered by Private Health Insurance -- Hispanics Are Most Likely to Be Uninsured -- Cost Is the Primary Reason for Being Uninsured -- Most Children get Health Insurance through a Family Memberʼs Employment -- Service Workers Are Least Likely to Have Health Insurance -- Health Care Spending Rises with Age -- Nineteen Percent of Health Care Costs Are Paid for Out-of-Pocket -- Insurance Covers Most of the Cost of Physician Visits -- Insurance Payments Cover Nearly All Hospital Inpatient Expenses -- Older Adults Pay the Most for Prescription Drugs -- Eyeglasses and Contact Lenses Usually Are Not Covered by Insurance -- Nearly Half the Cost of Dental Visits Is Paid for Out-of-Pocket -- Few Patients see Physicianʼs Assistants -- Medicaid Rolls Are Growing -- CHAPTER 7. DEATHS: -- Skilled Nursing care is a Key Component of Hospice Services -- Most People Believe in the Right to Die -- Leading Causes of Death Differ by Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin -- Heart Disease Is the Leading Killer of the Oldest Adults -- Accidents Are the Primary Cause of Death among Children -- Accidental Deaths Become Less Common with Age -- The Oldest Adults Die from a Wide Variety of Causes -- Americans Are Living Longer -- CHAPTER 8. DISABILITY: -- Older Women Are Most Likely to Be Disabled -- Disability Rates Vary by Demographic Characteristic -- Chronic Health Conditions Often Limit Activities -- Many Medicaid Recipients Cannot Work -- CHAPTER 9. DISEASES AND CONDITIONS: -- Most Serious Diseases Are More Common among the Elderly -- Biological Differences between Men and Women Are behind Disease Patterns -- Disease Prevalence is Higher among Non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks -- Low Incomes Are Related to Health Problems -- Higher Education Is Linked to Better Health -- Hypertension Rate Has Risen -- Prevalence of High Cholesterol Is Declining -- AIDS Hits Minorities Hard -- Most Children Receive Recommended Vaccinations -- Childrenʼs Health Problems Vary by Age, Sex, Race -- Prescription Drug Use Is Increasing -- Some Health Conditions Are More Costly than Others -- CHAPTER 10. HEALTH CARE VISITS: -- Four out of Five Health Care Visits Are to Physiciansʼ Offices -- Women Are More Likely than Men to Visit Health Care Providers -- Teenagers Are Least Likely to Visit a Doctor Frequently -- Most People Think Highly of Their Physician -- Women Seek Health Care More Often than Men -- Preventive Care Visits Are Most Common among the Young -- Nearly Half of Office Visits include a Blood Pressure Reading -- Most Doctor Visits Last Less than 15 Minutes -- Most Patients Prefer to See a Doctor -- Drugs Are Prescribed More Often than Lifestyle Change -- More than One Million Americans Receive Home Health Care -- Most People See a Dentist Regularly -- CHAPTER 11. HOSPITAL CARE: -- Big Differences in the Use of Hospital Outpatient Services -- Acute Health Problems Are the Most Common Reason for Visiting a Hospital Outpatient Department -- Emergency Room Visits Rise Sharply after Age 74 -- ER Visits by Older Adults Are Most Likely to Be Extremely Urgent -- Older Adults Are Far More Likely to Need Hospitalization -- The Oldest Account for the Largest Share of Hospitalizations -- Heart Disease Is Most Likely to Lead to Hospitalization -- Hospitals Provide a Wide Variety of Services -- CHAPTER 12. MENTAL HEALTH: -- More than One in Five Adults Have a Diagnosable Mental Disorder -- Women Are More Likely to Report Mental Health Problems -- Income Is Linked to Mental Health Problems -- One in Five High School Girls Has Considered Suicide -- Nine percent of Adults have had a Serious Mental Illness -- CHAPTER 13. SEXUAL ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR -- Americans Have Increasingly Liberal Attitudes toward Sex -- Most Teenagers Think Anything Goes between Consenting Adults -- Some Teenagers are more Likely than Others to Have Sex -- Younger Teens Are Less Likely to Use Contraception -- Most Adults have had Only One Se Partner in the Past Year -- Birth Control Pill is First Choice for Contraception -- CHAPTER 14. WEIGHT AND EXERCISE -- Shifts in Eating Habits Reflect Fads and Findings -- Four Decades of Overeating Tip the Scales -- Most Americans Are Overweight -- Boys Are More Likely than Girls to Be Overweight -- Most Adults Want to Lose Weight -- Americans Do Not Get Enough Exercise -- Participation in Some Sports Is Declining -- Most Children Engage in Free Time Physical Activities.
Summary:
American Health: Demographics of Health Care consumers brings together in one volume data on health care consumers from many sources, providing a comprehensive look at the demand for health care. With more than 300 tables, American Health includes twice as many tables as the federal governmentʼs annual health care reference book, Health, United States. It provides a comprehensive look at the demographics of health care consumers and the services they use, ranging from cosmetic surgery to prayer as alternative medicine, from doctor visits to contraception. It includes detailed health care spending data from the federal governmentʼs highly respected Consumer Expenditure Survey and the less well-known Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. It presents the latest data on health care coverage and the reasons people do not have health insurance. It has the latest information on the growing girth of the population, in pounds and percentages. It examines teen attitudes toward sex and teen and adult use of contraception. Most of the tables in American Health are based on data collected by the federal government, in particular the National Center for Health Statistics. From the Introduction.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.