NCHS: A Blog of the National Center for Health Statistics

Vaccination Coverage Among Adults With Diagnosed Diabetes: United States, 2015

Questions for Maria A. Villarroel, Ph.D., Health Statistician and Lead Author on “Vaccination Coverage Among Adults With Diagnosed Diabetes: United States, 2015.” Q: Why did you decide to look at vaccination coverage with diagnosed diabetes? MV: Persons with diabetes are at an increased risk for complications from vaccine-preventable infections, and a number of these of Read More >

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QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Who Cannot or Find It Very Difficult to Stand or Be on Their Feet for About 2 Hours Without Using Special Equipment

A reported 10.2% of adults aged 18 years or older cannot, or find it very difficult to, stand or be on their feet for about 2 hours without using special equipment. The percentage of adults who reported this difficulty increased with age: 2.9% of those aged 18–44 years, 11.8% of those aged 45–64 years, 19.1% Read More >

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Problems Paying Medical Bills Among Persons Under Age 65: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, 2011-June 2016

Questions for Robin Cohen, Ph.D., Health Statistician and Lead Author on “Problems Paying Medical Bills Among Persons Under Age 65: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, 2011-June 2016” Q: What do you think is the most significant finding in your new study? RC: I think the key finding in this report Read More >

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QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Aged 20 Years or Older Who Ever Told A Doctor That They Had Trouble Sleeping, by Age Group and Sex

In 2013–2014, 28% of U.S. adults reported that they had told a doctor or other health professional that they had trouble sleeping. A smaller percentage of adults aged 20–39 years (19.2%) reported having trouble sleeping compared with persons aged 40–59 years (32.8%) and 60 years or older (33.2%). This pattern by age group was observed Read More >

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Provisional Estimates of Birth Data for 2014 through the Second Quarter of 2016

NCHS has released provisional estimates of selected reproductive indicators from birth data for 2014 through the second quarter of 2016. Estimates for 2014 and 2015 are based on final data. The estimates for the first and second quarter of 2016 are based on all birth records received and processed by NCHS as of August 28, Read More >

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QuickStats: Average Infant Mortality Rate by Month — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2010–2014

During 2010–2014, the infant mortality rate averaged approximately 6.00 infant deaths per 1,000 live births each month. The infant mortality rate peaked in February and April at approximately 6.30 and was lowest from July to September with approximately 5.71 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. Source: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6545a11.htm Read More >

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Sports and Recreation Related Injury Episodes in the United States, 2011-2014

Questions for Yahtyng Sheu, Senior Service Fellow and Lead Author on “Sports and Recreation Related Injury Episodes in the United States, 2011-2014” Q: How many sports and recreation related injuries are being reported annually? YS: According to our analysis, approximately 8.6 million of sports- and recreation- related injury episodes were reported annually among persons aged Read More >

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Age Differences in Visits to Office-based Physicians by Adults with Hypertension: United States, 2013

Questions for Jill J. Ashman, Ph.D., Health Statistician and Lead Author on “Age Differences in Visits to Office-based Physicians by Adults With Hypertension: United States, 2013” Q: Why did you choose age differences as the demographic focus of your study? JA: I wanted to examine this demographic because of the dramatic differences by age I Read More >

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Teen Birth Rates for Urban and Rural Areas in the United States, 2007–2015

Questions for Brady Hamilton, Statistician and Lead Author of “Teen Birth Rates for Urban and Rural Areas in the United States, 2007–2015” Q: Are teen birth rates in the U.S. higher in urban areas or rural areas? BH: The birth rate for teenagers is higher in rural areas than in urban areas. In 2015, the Read More >

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QuickStats: Death Rates for Motor Vehicle Traffic Injury, Suicide, and Homicide Among Children and Adolescents aged 10–14 Years — United States, 1999–2014

In 1999, the mortality rate for children and adolescents aged 10–14 years for deaths from motor vehicle traffic injury (4.5 per 100,000) was about four times higher than the rate for deaths for suicide and homicide (both at 1.2). From 1999 to 2014, the death rate for motor vehicle traffic injury declined 58%, to 1.9 Read More >

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Health Insurance Coverage: Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, January-June 2016

Questions for Emily P. Zammitti, M.P.H., Associate Service Fellow and Lead Author on “Health Insurance Coverage: Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, January-June 2016” Q: Where do high-deductible private health insurance plans fit into 2016 estimates compared to earlier years? EZ: Among private health insurance plans, high-deductible health plans have been increasing in recent Read More >

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Cause of Fetal Death: Data from the Fetal Death Report, 2014

Questions for Donna L. Hoyert, Ph.D., Health Scientist and Lead Author on “Cause of Fetal Death: Data from the Fetal Death Report, 2014” Q: Why did you conduct this study? DH: We wanted to provide background regarding what information has become available recently through vital statistics data on the cause of fetal death. The National Read More >

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QuickStats: Cigarette Smoking Status Among Current Adult E-cigarette Users by Age Group — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2015

In 2015, 3.5% of U.S. adults were current e-cigarette users. Among adult e-cigarette users overall, 58.8% also were current cigarette smokers, 29.8% were former cigarette smokers, and 11.4% had never been cigarette smokers. Among current e-cigarette users aged 45 years or older, 98.7% were either current or former cigarette smokers, and 1.3% had never been Read More >

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Q & A from Lead Author of “State Variation in Electronic Sharing of Information in Physician Offices: United States, 2015”

Questions for Eric Jamoom, Research Scientist Officer at the Collaborating Center for Questionnaire Design and Evaluation Research and Lead Author on “State Variation in Electronic Sharing of Information in Physician Offices: United States, 2015.” Q: What findings in the report surprised you and why? EJ: In this data brief, we are capturing for the first time Read More >

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Health Care Access and Utilization Among Adults Aged 18–64, by Poverty Level: United States, 2013–2015

Questions for Michael Martinez and Brian Ward, Health Statisticians and Lead Authors on “Health Care Access and Utilization Among Adults Aged 18–64, by Poverty Level: United States, 2013–2015.” Q: What findings in the report surprised you and why? MM BW: We found it noteworthy that even though all adults aged 18-64 among all poverty level Read More >

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State Variation in Electronic Sharing of Information in Physician Offices: United States, 2015

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) provides financial incentives to eligible providers using a certified electronic health record (EHR) system. In 2015, 77.9% of office-based physicians had a certified EHR system, up from 74.1% in 2014. A federal plan to enhance the nation’s health information technology infrastructure was published in 2015 to support information Read More >

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Injury Mortality: United States, 1999–2014

NCHS has released new data visualization that depicts injury mortality in the United States from 1999 through 2014. This storyboard allows the user to select subcategories of injury deaths based on intent and mechanism of injury. Numbers and rates are provided for the subcategory selected by the user. The storyboard includes six dashboards. Deaths can be Read More >

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QuickStats: Gestational Weight Gain Among Women with Full-Term, Singleton Births, Compared with Recommendations — 48 States and the District of Columbia, 2015

Gestational weight gain was within the recommended range for 32% of women giving birth to full-term, singleton infants in 2015, with 48% gaining more weight and 21% less weight than recommended. Approximately 44% of women who were underweight before pregnancy gained within the recommendations, compared with 39% of women who were normal weight, 26% of Read More >

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Birth Expectations of U.S. Women Aged 15–44

Questions for Jill Daugherty and Gladys Martinez, Health Statisticians and Lead Authors on “Birth Expectations of U.S. Women Aged 15–44” Q: There is a perception that fewer women are interested in having children compared with in the past. Does your study reflect that? JD GM: No, our data do not support this perception. In 2013-2015, Read More >

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Use of Complementary Health Approaches for Musculoskeletal Pain Disorders Among Adults: United States, 2012

Questions for Tainya C. Clarke, Ph.D., M.P.H., Health Statistician and Lead Author on “Use of Complementary Health Approaches for Musculoskeletal Pain Disorders Among Adults: United States, 2012” Q: Why did you focus on musculoskeletal pain disorders like sciatica, joint pain, and arthritic conditions and the use of complementary health approaches to address them – versus Read More >

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QuickStats: Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Adults Aged 50–75 Years, by Race/Ethnicity

During 2000–2015, among adults aged 50–75 years, the use of colorectal cancer tests or procedures increased for all racial/ ethnic groups included in the analysis. Colorectal screening percentages more than doubled for non-Hispanic black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Asian adults during that period. Despite these increases, in 2015, the prevalence of colorectal cancer screening was higher Read More >

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Continued Declines in Teen Births in the United States, 2015

The birth rate for teenagers aged 15–19 has fallen almost continuously since 1991, reaching historic lows for the nation every year since 2009. Despite declines in all racial and ethnic groups, teen birth rates continue to vary considerably by race and ethnicity. Moreover, the U.S. teen birth rate remains higher than in other industrialized countries. Read More >

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New Estimates for 15 selected health measures based on data from the January–March 2016 National Health Interview Survey

A new report from NCHS updates estimates for 15 selected health measures based on data from the January–March 2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and presents estimates from 1997 through 2014 for comparison. The 15 Early Release measures are being published prior to final data editing and final weighting to provide access to the most Read More >

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QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Aged 65+ Meeting Federal Guidelines for Leisure-Time Aerobic and Muscle-Strengthening Activities

From 2000–2002 to 2013–2015, the percentage of older adults who met the 2008 federal guidelines for aerobic activity increased from 35.7% to 42.5% among persons aged 65–74 years, from 24.5% to 30.9% among persons aged 75–84 years, and from 11.9% to 19.4% among persons aged 85 years or older. The percentage who met the guidelines Read More >

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Health, United States Spotlight Infographics September 2016

Health, United States Spotlights are infographics of selected health data available in Health, United States, the annual report on the health of the nation submitted by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to the President and Congress. Each Spotlight displays approximately four health indicators allowing users to visualize and interpret complex Read More >

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