WEDNESDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics' 34th annual report, presenting the latest information on health status and determinants, utilization of health care, health care resources, expenditures, and a special feature on death and dying, was published Feb. 16.
Amy B. Bernstein, Sc.D., of the CDC/National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues compiled health data from state and federal health agencies to identify trends and changes in the health of the nation.
The writers report that the number of adults aged 45 and older who use statins to lower cholesterol increased from 2 to 25 percent from 1988-1994 to 2005-2008. The percentage of school-age children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder increased from 7 to 9 percent from 1997-1999 to 2007-2009, and skin allergies in children increased from 7 to 11 percent during that period. Between 1997 and 2009, the percentage of adults aged 18 to 64 who delayed or did not receive medical care in the past 12 months because of expense increased from 11 to 15 percent; those that did not receive prescriptions due to cost rose from 6 to 11 percent. In 2007, a quarter of deaths occurred at home, 36 percent occurred in hospitals, and 22 percent of people died in nursing homes.
"Monitoring the health of the American people is an essential step in making sound health policy and setting research and program priorities," the authors write.
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