Category: National Center for Health Statistics

NCHS Welcomes Dr. Moyer as its New Center Director

Brian Moyer, Ph.D., M.A., has been named the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) effective March 30, 2020. Dr. Moyer has been serving as Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) since September 2014 and as Acting Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, which oversees Read More >

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QuickStats: Percentages of Residential Care Communities and Adult Day Services Centers that Provided Selected Services — United States, 2014

In 2014, a greater percentage of residential care communities than adult day service centers provided five of seven selected services. The majority of residential care communities provided pharmacy services (82%); followed by transportation for social activities (79%); physical, occupational, or speech therapy (69%); hospice (62%); skilled nursing (59%); and mental health services (52%). Fewer than Read More >

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Emergency Department Visits and Proximity to Patients’ Residences, 2009–2010

The number of emergency department (ED) visits rose 44% from 1991 through 2010, even as the number of hospital EDs declined 10% over the same period. As a result, EDs have increasingly experienced overcrowding and longer waiting times. Using data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a new NCHS report provides how often patients go to Read More >

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Who will be drinking on St. Patty’s Day?

Who will have whiskey in the jar on one of the most popular drinking days of the year? Well, on average,  men are more likely than women to be current drinkers (68% compared with 55%). Men are also more likely to be moderate (22%) or heavy drinkers (6%) than women (7% and 4%, respectively). Youth also contributes to heavier drinking: Read More >

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Depression in the United States

Depression is a common and debilitating illness. According to the American Psychiatric Association, depression is characterized by changes in mood, self-attitude, cognitive functioning, sleep, appetite, and energy level. Here’s some facts about depression in the U.S. you may not know: More than 1 in 20 Americans age 12 and over have depression. More than 1 Read More >

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Obesity – Americans still growing, but not as fast

New data in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) from NCHS statisticians show that the increasing rate of obesity may be slowing, although the prevalence of adults who are obese is still high. The numbers from 2007-2008 show that 33.8% of U.S. adults are obese (32.2% for men, 35.5% for women). The Read More >

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January is cervical cancer awareness month…

Cervical cancer once was the leading cause of cancer death for women in the U.S., and although the cases and deaths of cervical cancer have decreased over the past 40 years due largely to regular Pap tests, the disease still was responsible for almost 4,000 deaths in 2006 (most recent data available). The rates vary somewhat, but Read More >

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A New Year’s resolution – Don’t follow the masses when it comes to exercise

What’s your new year’s resolution? For many people this time of year, losing weight and/or getting active tops the list. But when it comes to getting exercise (or, as we at NCHS term it, regular leisure-time physical activity), only about 35% of Americans are making it a priority (although, the percentage of those getting regular Read More >

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How’s your state doing?

NCHS now has an easy way for you to check out where your state stands on a variety of health measures compared with the nation as a whole and other states, including the following: Mortality from leading causes of death Birth data, including births to unmarried mothers, teen births, cesarean deliveries, low birthweight births, prenatal Read More >

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A holiday present for everyone – life expectancy

What gift did every American get this year? Well, for one thing, everyone now has a longer life expectancy. Of course, it’s not a one size fits all – there are still differences among the races and genders, as shown in the bullets below. Everyone’s life expectancy has increased, however, regardless of where he or she started Read More >

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Report examines racial differences in nursing homes

In 2004, 11% of the 1.3 million nursing home residents aged 65 and over in the United States were black. Recent research suggests that black nursing home residents may be more likely than residents of other races to reside in facilities that have serious deficiencies, such as low staffing ratios and greater financial vulnerability. The Read More >

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Most dangerous states to be riding in a car this holiday weekend

Are you driving to your Thanksgiving dinner this weekend? Beware that your risk while rolling down the highway may be higher or lower depending on the state in which you are traveling. When it comes to dying in a car accident, some states are more deadly than others, and the ones at the top may surprise you. See the Read More >

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Have late preterm births increased among mothers of all ages?

Late preterm birth rates have risen among mothers of all ages from 1990 to 2006, including teenage mothers (up 5 percent). Among mothers age 25 years and over, late preterm birth rates increased by more than 20 percent from 1990 to 2006. Younger (under age 20 years) and older (40 years and over) mothers are Read More >

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Breast cancer deaths – A state-by-state basis

Except for skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women. Breast cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in Hispanic women. It is the second most common cause of cancer death in white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women. However, in the United States, incidence of breast Read More >

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10 Leading Causes of Violence-Related Injury Deaths – Suicide Is Leading Killer

10 Leading Causes of Violence-Related Injury Deaths in the United States in 2006, for all races, both sexes, and all ages. Produced By: Office of Statistics and Programming, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Data Source: National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), National Vital Statistics System. Read More >

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Pregnancy rates decrease in United States

In 2005, an estimated 6,408,000 pregnancies resulted in 4.14 million live births, 1.21 million induced abortions, and 1.06 million fetal losses. The 2005 pregnancy rate of 103.2 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years is 11 percent below the 1990 peak of 115.8. The teenage pregnancy rate dropped 40 percent from 1990 to 2005, reaching Read More >

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Health insurance stats – down to basics…

In 2008, 43.8 million people of all ages(14.7%) were uninsured at the time of interview. After adjusting for age and sex, the percentage uninsured at the time of interview was 30.7% for Hispanics, 10.4% for the non-Hispanic white population, and 16.0% for the non-Hispanic black population. The percentage of people under age 65 with no Read More >

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Increase in poisonings from opioid painkillers

NCHS recently released the report titled “Increase in Fatal Poisonings Involving Opioid Analgesics in the United States, 1999-2006.” This report shows the explosion of fatal poisonings from opioid painkillers over the past 7 years. For example, from 1999 through 2006, the number of fatal poisonings involving opioid analgesics more than tripled from 4,000 to 13,800 Read More >

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New health insurance coverage numbers/percentages released for first quarter 2009

Today the National Center for Health Statistics released the first numbers for health insurance coverage and non-coverage for 2009 (first quarter, January through March). Below shows the percentage of the population that was uninsured last year, as well as the percentage of the population covered by a public or private plan. For more information from Read More >

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How does your state fare when it comes to death rates from flu and pneumonia?

Age-adjusted death rates shown here are deaths per 100,000 population. To learn more, visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm. Read More >

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Report on Hurricane Katrina’s effect on the number of births in the Gulf Region released

  On Friday, August 28, 2009, CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics released “The Effect of Hurricane Katrina: Births in the U.S. Gulf Coast Region, Before and After the Storm.” The report documents how births were impacted in 91 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designated counties and parishes of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi for a 12-month Read More >

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Obesity information-it starts with the letters NHANES

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released information concerning the prevalence and costs of the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States. Some of the most critical information concerning the weight of the nation is collected in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which takes actual measurements of a Read More >

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Underweight older adults, children decrease in U.S.

Poor nutrition or underlying health conditions can sometimes cause a person to be underweight. Data from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) showed that an estimated 1.8% of U.S. adults are underweight. Between 1988-1994 and 2003-2006, a statistically significant decrease in the percentage of those underweight was found only among those aged Read More >

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Health news you may have missed

The National Center for Health Statistics’ Office of Public Affairs keeps an archive of previously released press releases going back to 1994. The news releases cover the wide range of important and interesting health topics that our data cover. To search these news releases by date or by subject matter, visit the NCHS Press Room and Read More >

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Births–Using the NCHS Vital Stats Tool

  NCHS birth tables with a variety of variables for selection are available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/datawh/vitalstats/VitalStatsbirths.htm. By selecting the national or subnational (i.e., state and some county) levels, you can find specific statistics for national, state, and some county birth rates, fertility rates, method of delivery (vaginal or cesarean), length of pregnancy, birthweight, characteristics of the mother Read More >

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