NCHS: A Blog of the National Center for Health Statistics
Anti-depressant Use
CNN recently ran a story that has gained some attention. It is entitled CDC: Antidepressants most prescribed drugs in U.S. […]According to a government study, antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. They’re prescribed more than drugs to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, or headaches. CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen Read More >
Posted on byAmerica’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being
Last Friday we released the 10th anniversary edition of America’s Children, a product of the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (Forum) is a collection of 22 Federal government agencies involved in research and activities related to children and families. The Forum was founded Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentPandemic Flu
Pandemic flu is not tracked by the National Center for Health Statistics. For the best resources on pandemic or avian flu visit the pandemic flu website. Read More >
Posted on byMother’s Age at First Birth
One of the interesting demographic phenomena is the steady upwards creep in the age of women when they give birth to their first child. In 1940 the age at first birth was 23.0 years. It dipped downwards to 21.5 in 1960 and was at 25.2 in 2004. The data can be found here. Read More >
Posted on byAmbulatory Care Visits
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today issued a new report, “Ambulatory Medical Care Utilization Estimates for 2005,” which contains information on patient visits to emergency departments, outpatient clinics, and physician offices. Highlights of the report: There were over 1.2 billion patient visits to physician offices, hospital outpatient clinics, and emergency rooms in 2005. Read More >
Posted on byMore Obesity Resources
We’ve written a couple of times on the subject of overweight and obesity. However, some of our research has been published in scholarly journals rather than on our website. The journal Obesity: Racial and Ethnic Differences in Secular Trends for Childhood BMI, Weight, and Height The journal Gastroenterology: The Epidemiology of Obesity. More data on Read More >
Posted on byCircumcision Rates
Circumcision is a topic that has vigorous advocates for and against. As a statistical agency we don’t have a view on that particular subject but we do track male infant circumcision through our National Hospital Discharge Survey. Our publication Trends in circumcisions among newborns can be downloaded as can this table showing numbers of circumsicisions Read More >
Posted on byBirths at home and births by midwife
Home birthing and the use of a midwife versus a doctor is often the subject of discussion on the pages of popular magazines. As part of our study of births, the National Center for Health Statistics produces data on the place of birth and who is attendant at that birth annually. Those data from 1990 Read More >
Posted on byHip and Knee Replacement Surgery
Pioneered by Sir John Charnley in the 1960s, hip and knee replacement surgery has offered a markedly improved quality of life to thousands of people who would otherwise have had their mobility severely limited. Since 1996 the rate of persons receiving total hip replacement has increased by 52% and the rate of those receiving total Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentHistorical Leading Causes of Death
We’re all fairly familiar with the leading causes of death today: heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, influenza/Pneumonia, kidney disease, and septicemia. (As an aside, you can querythe leading causes of death in detail from 1981 to present at CDC’s WONDER database.) But what were the leading causes of death Read More >
Posted on by 6 CommentsDo 50% of marriages end in divorce?
We get this question all the time and the best we can say is that we don’t know. Based on data produced by the National Survey of Family Growth, 43% of first marriages by women aged 15-44 will end in a “disruption” within 15 years. Disruption is defined as either separation or divorce. As not Read More >
Posted on by 5 CommentsMore on Marriage and Divorce Data
We posted below on the lack of detailed information on marriage and divorce. There are alternative resources available at the National Center for Health Statistics that enable one to draw inferences as to the marriage and divorce patterns of Americans. In July 2002, we published Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the United States. From our press Read More >
Posted on byMarriage and Divorce Statistics
We get a lot of questions on marriages and divorces. Unfortunately we are unable to answer very many of them. On December 15, 1995 the National Center for Health Statistics filed a notice in the Federal Register of its intent to stop collecting detailed information on marriages and divorces from state governments through the Vital Read More >
Posted on byHeart attacks and hospitalization
Every week the National Center for Health Statistics produces a feature called QuickStats for the CDC’s publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report which highlights interesting and relevant data from NCHS data collection programs. This week it highlights hospitalizations rates for coronary atherosclerosis and acute myocardial infarction for the period 1996-2005. These data come from the Read More >
Posted on bySudden Infant Death Syndrome
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is defined as the sudden death of an infant less than one year of age that cannot be explained after a thorough case investigation is conducted, including a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history. Read More >
Posted on byCDC Surveys Home Care and Hospice Aids
An overlooked part of our health care system is those persons who work as aids in hospices and private homes . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics is kicking off a major national study of the working conditions, education, and practices: The 2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS) Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentNew Emergency Department Report
Released today. Some of the highlights During 2005, an estimated 115.3 million visits were made to hospital EDs, about 39.6 visits per 100 persons. This represents on average roughly 30,000 visits per ED in 2005, a 31 percent increase over 1995 (23,000). Visit rates have shown an increasing trend since 1995 for persons 22–49 years Read More >
Posted on byNew Ambulatory Care Report
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today issued a new report, “Ambulatory Medical Care Utilization Estimates for 2005,” which contains information on patient visits to emergency departments, outpatient clinics, and physician offices. Highlights of the report: There were over 1.2 billion patient visits to physician offices, hospital outpatient clinics, and emergency rooms in 2005. Read More >
Posted on byDeaths from HIV/AIDS
We had a question about the number of persons in the United States who die from HIV/AIDS. Mortality data indicate that in 2004 5,608 whites (rate of 2.4 per 100,000), 7271 blacks (18.8 per 100,000), and 184 persons of other races (rate of 1.1 per 100,000) died of HIV/AIDS. You can do your own analysis Read More >
Posted on byMore On Drownings
As a follow up to our post on drownings we’re providing month-by-month data by race, sex, and type of drowning. This is an example of the type of data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics’s National Vital Statistics System. Accident to watercraft causing drowning and submersion Water‑transport‑related drowning and submersion without accident to Read More >
Posted on byChronic Kidney Disease
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious condition associated with premature mortality, decreased quality of life, and increased health-care expenditures. Untreated CKD can result in end-stage renal disease and necessitate dialysis or kidney transplantation. Risk factors for CKD include cardiovascular Read More >
Posted on byType 1 Diabetes
Yesterday the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article entitled Incidence of Diabetes in Youth in the United States. From the JAMA press release: Non-Hispanic white youth have the highest rate of diabetes of all racial/ethnic groups for children in the U.S., with type 1 being the predominant kind of diabetes among youth, Read More >
Posted on byIntimate Partner Violence
The sad case of the murder of 26 year old Jessie Davis has gained national media attention. Though the National Center for Health Statistics tracks deaths, and as a subset of that homicides, the feeder document for the National Vital Statistics System, in this case the death certificate, does not allow us to identify the Read More >
Posted on byUnmarried Childbearing
The National Center for Health Statistics tracks the number and percentage of births to unmarried women because it is a key social indicator. According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics: Children of unmarried mothers are at higher risk of having adverse birth outcomes, such as low birthweight and infant mortality, and Read More >
Posted on byHealth Insurance Coverage
The National Center for Health Statistics has released its estimates of health insurance coverage in the United States derived from household interviews conducted under the aegis of the Health Interview Survey. The report is entitled Early Release of Health Insurance Estimates Based on Data From the 2006 National Health Interview Survey. As an aside, the Read More >
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