Health

Measures of population health are available in a number of public surveys, for example, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the Health and Retirement Study, and the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. We describe some common measures below.

Overall Life Expectancy. In 2005, overall life expectancy for individuals living in the United States was 77.8 years. Life expectancy for women (80.4 years) was higher than that for men (75.2 years) (See the table).

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007.

Infant Mortality. The overall infant mortality rate in 2004 was 6.8 infant deaths per 1,000 births. However, there were large disparities among different ethnic groups: For example, the infant mortality rate for black mothers was 13.6 per 1,000 births (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007).

Leading Causes of Death. The leading causes of death in the U.S. population are, in order of prevalence,

• heart disease
• cancer
• stroke
• chronic lower respiratory disease
• unintentional injuries.

Figure 2 shows the trends in causes of death over the past 55 years. Deaths from cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases have increased while other causes have generally trended downward (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007).

Figure 2. Trends in the Leading Causes of Death for All Ages, the United States, 1950–2005

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008.

NOTES: Estimates are age adjusted. Causes of death shown are the five leading causes of death for all ages in 2005. Starting with 1999 data, causes of death were coded according to International Classification of Diseases 10, from the World Health Organization. For data points graphed and additional notes, see U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008, data table for figure 16, p. 126. Click to Zoom

Disease Prevalence. The following health problems or conditions are common in the U.S. population age 20–75:

• Overweight and obesity: 66 percent
• Obesity, 32.1 percent
• Overweight including obese is defined as a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 25; overweight but not obese, as a BMI greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30; and obese, as a BMI greater than or equal to 30.
• Hypertension:
  • 23 percent of men and 23.2 percent of women age 45–54 years
  • 45 percent of men and 58.5 percent of women age 75 years and over
• Diabetes: 10.2 percent (both diagnosed and undiagnosed).

Disability/Health-Related Quality of Life. Public surveys also ask respondents to rate the quality of their life. Figure 3 illustrates how the adult population rated its health in 2001.

The ratings varied by age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic characteristics.

Age: Thirty–three percent of the population over the age of 75 reported fair or poor health, compared with only 7.5 percent of adults 18–24 years who described their health in that way (Zahran et al., 2005).

Race/ethnicity: More blacks, Native Americans, and Hispanics reported fair to poor health than did Caucasians and Asians (see Figure 4).

Socioeconomic: Nearly half of individuals with yearly household incomes of $75,000 or more reported excellent health compared with about one–quarter of those with incomes less than $20,000 per year (Adams, Dey, and Vickerie, 2007).

In adults, activity limitations are measured with respect to working or doing everyday chores. In children, they are measured with respect to play or other age-appropriate activities, memory, and special needs regarding education:

• Overall 34.1 million people (12 percent) of the population are limited in their usual activities because of one or more chronic health conditions.
• Prevalence of limitation increases with age:
  • 6 percent of children under 12 years
  • 15 percent of adults aged 45–64
  • 44 percent of adults over age 75 (Adams, Dey, and Vickerie, 2007).

Activity limitations can be categorized by their disease specific causes, which also vary by age.

Children. Among younger children, speech problems, mental retardation, and asthma are the leading causes of activity limitation; other types of learning problems and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) become more prominent as children get older. This pattern can be seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Selected Chronic Health Conditions Causing Activity Limitations Among Children in the United States, 2005-2006

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008. NOTES: Data are for noninstitutionalized children. Children with more than one chronic health condition that caused activity limitation were counted in each category. For data points graphed, standard errors, and additional notes, see U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008, data table for figure 11, p. 122. * Estimates are considered unreliable. Data preceded by an asterisk have a relative standard error (RSE) of 20-30 percent. Data not shown have an RSE of greater than 30 percent. Click to Zoom

Adults age 18–64: Arthritis and heart disease become more common as individuals age. Mental illness remains a relatively stable cause of limitations in activity for all ages. (See Figure 6.)

Adults over 65: An estimated 25 percent of adults age 65–74 and 60 percent of adults 75 and older have activity limitations. Arthritis and heart disease continue to be the leading causes, but dementia and vision problems become increasingly prevalent with age, as shown in Figure 7.

Comparisons with other Western developed countries provide perspective on U.S. health. In general, members of the U.S. population have shorter life expectancy (Figure 12), shorter healthy life expectancy (Figure 13) and higher infant mortality (Figure 14) than the population in other major countries.

Figure 12. Life Expectancy at Birth, 2006

SOURCE: World Health Organization, 2006 Click to Zoom

Figure 13. Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth

SOURCE: World Health Organization, 2006 Click to Zoom

Figure 14. Infant Mortality

SOURCE: World Health Organization, 2006 Click to Zoom