New data are available from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) on people with selected chronic illnesses and the preventative services or treatments they use.
The self-reported data come from AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and are available on the Internet at www.meps/arq.gov.
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey collects information annually on health care use, health status, access, and quality from people living in U.S. households. Some findings from the 2000 survey include:
- Nearly 43% of people ages 18 and older with public insurance report that they have high blood pressure, compared with 21% of privately insured people and 13.2 % of those with no insurance.
- Of people ages 18 and older who had a stroke, 58.6% reported that they had been advised by a medical provider to exercise more, and 59.1% reported that they had been advised to change their diets.
- Hispanics were less likely than people of other races to report having heart disease, high blood pressure, or asthma.
- Among diabetics, 69.4% reported having a hemoglobin A1C test, and 62.8% reported having their feet checked for sores.
- About 48% of all asthmatics ages 18 and older reported taking prescribed medications, 29% reported using steroid inhalers, and 17% said they had a peak flow meter in their home.
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