HIV risk-related behaviors in the United States household population aged 15-44 years: data from the National survey of family growth, 2002 and 2006-2010

OBJECTIVE: This report presents national estimates of selected HIV risk-related behaviors among men and women 15-44 years of age in the United States, based on the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Data from the 2006-2010 NSFG are compared with data from the 2002 NSFG. METHODS: Data for 2006-2010 were collected through in-person interviews with a national sample of 22,682 men and women aged 15-44 years in the household population of the United States. The measures presented in this report were collected using audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI), in which the respondent enters his or her own answers into the computer without telling them to an interviewer. The response rate for the 2006-2010 NSFG was 77%, 78% for women and 75% for men. HIV risk-related behavioral measures examined in this report include sexual risk, drug risk, and recent STD treatment. RESULTS: Approximately 10% of men and 8% of women in 2006-2010 reported at least one of the HIV risk-related behavioral measures examined in this report, representing 6.5 million men and 4.9 million women in the general U.S. household population. This represents a decline from the 13% of men and 11% of women who reported one or more of these measures in 2002. This decline appears to be due to a decrease in sexual risk behaviors reported in 2006-2010, however further analysis as well as comparisons with other household surveys are needed to fully understand and describe trends over time. Significant variations were seen by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics including age, race and Hispanic origin, sex, education, and poverty level income. Among men, those with recent prison experience were more likely than other men to report one or more HIV risk-related behaviors in the past year.by Anjani Chandra, Veena G. Billioux, Casey E. Copen, National Center for Health Statsitics ; Catlainn Sionean, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepititis, STD, and TB Prevention.Title from title screen (viewed on Feb. 24, 2012)."January 19, 2012."Includes bibliographical references (p. 10-12)

Multiple causes of death in old age

What is known about the nature of fatal diseases and injuries is based largely upon the tradition of identifying a single condition present at death as the underlying cause. As stated on the U .S. Standard ertificate of Death, the underlying cause is considered to be the disease or injury that initiated events resulting in death (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/DEATHn-03final-ACC.pdf).by Yelena Gorina and Harold Lentzner.1917485

Trends in adults receiving a recommendation for exercise or other physical activity from a physician or other health professional

The Healthy People 2020 objectives for physical activity include two objectives for increasing the proportion of physician office visits that include counseling or education related to exercise (see http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/default.aspx). Physician counseling for exercise has not previously been tracked by the Healthy People initiative. The present report looks at this emerging health issue from the vantage point of adults in the general population who had seen a physician or other health professional in the past 12 months and had been advised to begin or continue to do exercise or other physical activity. About 8 in 10 adults had seen a health professional in the past 12 months during 2000 (80.6%), 2005 (81.2%), and 2010 (79.8%), although estimates varied by demographic subgroups (10\ue2\u20ac\u201c12). Over time, estimates of the percentage of adults being advised to exercise could be influenced by major changes in the characteristics of adults seeing a health professional. In 2010, about one in three adults (32.4%) who had seen a physician or other health professional in the past year had been advised to exercise or do other physical activity, which reflects an upward trend since 2000, moving in the direction of meeting Healthy People 2020 goals. In relative terms, there has been more than a 40% increase\ue2\u20ac\u201dfrom 22.6% of adults in 2000 to 32.4% in 2010. Although increases were noted for every population and health condition group studied, these increases were larger for some groups than others. The increase in the percentage of adults receiving exercise advice is particularly noteworthy for the oldest age group. In 2000, 15.3% of adults aged 85 and over had been advised to exercise; by 2010, the percentage had increased to 28.9%. Across the chronic health conditions studied, adults with diabetes were the most likely, and those with cancer were the least likely, to have been advised by their physician to exercise. An upward trend of 8\ue2\u20ac\u201c10 percentage points, however, was seen among adults with each of the chronic diseases examined. Adults who were overweight or obese saw among the largest increases over the decade in the percentage receiving a physician\ue2\u20ac\u2122s advice to exercise. The percentage of healthy weight adults receiving exercise advice also increased over the decade, but to a lesser extent. Trends over the past 10 years suggest that the medical community is increasing its efforts to recommend participation in exercise and other physical activity that research has shown to be associated with substantial health benefits. Still, the prevalence of receiving this advice remains well below one-half of U.S. adults and varies substantially across population subgroups.Patricia M. Barnes, and Charlotte A. Schoenborn.Title from title title screen (viewed on April 16, 2012)."February 2012."Includes bibliographical references (p. 7)

Trends in influenza and pneumonia among older persons in the United States

by Yelena Gorina, Tanika Kelly, James Lubiz, and Zahiyah Hines.Title from title screen (viewed on Dec. 22, 2008)."February 2008.""Table 1 has been updated as of April 9, 2008."Mode of access: Internet from the NCHS web site. Address as of 12/22/08: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ahcd/agingtrends/08influenza.pdf; current access available via PURL.Includes bibliographical references (p. 10-11)

Obesity and socioeconomic status in adults: United States, 2005-2008

"In 2007-2008 more than one-third of United States adults were obese. Obese individuals are at increased risk of diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and certain cancers, among other conditions. Some studies have shown a relationship between obesity prevalence and socioeconomic status measured as educational level or income. This data brief presents the most recent national data on obesity in United States adults and its association with poverty income ratio (PIR) and education level. Results are presented by sex and race and ethnicity." - p. 1Cynthia L. Ogden, Molly M. Lamb, Margaret D. Carroll, and Katherine M. Flegal.Title from caption (viewed Feb. 15, 2012).."December 2010"Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.Mode of access: World Wide Web.Includes bibliographical references (p. 7)

Understanding racial and ethnic disparities in U.S. infant mortality rates

In the United States, different racial and ethnic groups have very different infant mortality patterns. When assessing the relative contribution of the percentage of preterm births and gestational age-specific infant mortality rates to racial and ethnic infant mortality differences, we found that for non-Hispanic black women, 78 percent of their elevated infant mortality rate compared with non-Hispanic white women was due to their higher percentage of preterm births, while 22 percent was due to higher gestational age-specific infant mortality rates (primarily at 34 weeks of gestation or more). For Puerto Rican women, their elevated infant mortality rate compared with non-Hispanic white women was entirely due to their higher percentage of preterm births. However, AIAN women had a very different infant mortality pattern: 76 percent of their higher infant mortality rate compared with non-Hispanic white women was due to their higher gestational age-specific infant mortality rates (primarily at 34 weeks or more), and only 24 percent was due to their higher percentage of preterm births.These findings are consistent with the cause-of-death analysis, which found that for bothnon-Hispanic black and Puerto Rican women, most of their higher infant mortality rate compared with non-Hispanic white women was due to preterm-related causes. In contrast, for AIAN women, the infant mortality rate from SIDS was 2.4 times, and the rate from unintentional injuries was 2.3 times, the non-Hispanic white rate. Infant mortality rates for non-Hispanic black women would be reduced by 71 percent, those for AIAN women by 64 percent, and those for Puerto Rican women by 67 percent if rates from preterm-related causes, congenital malformations, SIDS, and unintentional injuries could be reduced to non-Hispanic white levels.The different infant mortality patterns for non-Hispanic black, Puerto Rican, and AIAN women suggest different prevention strategies (6,7). In addition, because the percentage of preterm births for all U.S. racial and ethnic groups is higher than in other developed countries, all U.S. racial and ethnic groups might benefit from prematurity prevention efforts (8,9).Marian F. MacDorman and T.J. Mathews."September 2011."Includes bibliographical references (p. 7-[8]

Adult obesity prevalence in Canada and the United States

"Obesity is a public health challenge throughout the world. Ongoing monitoring of trends in obesity is important to assess interventions aimed at preventing or reducing the burden of obesity. Since the 1960s, measured height and weight have been collected in the United States as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In Canada, data on measured height and weight have been collected from nationally representative samples of the population less regularly. This changed in 2007 with the launch of the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS), the scope and purpose of which are similar to those of NHANES. The objective of this report is to compare estimates of the prevalence of obesity between Canadian and American adults." - p. 1Margot Shields, Margaret D. Carroll, and Cynthia L. Ogden.Title from caption, PDF title screen (viewed on Jan. 20, 2012)."March 2011.""CS219289.""T38372 (03/2011)."Includes bibliographical references (p. 7)

Plan, operation, and response results of a program of children's examinations: a description of the Health Examination Survey's second cycle, examinations of a probability sample of United States children 6-11 years of age

"October 1967."Also available via the World Wide Web.Mode of access: Internet via CDC web site. Address as of 03/08/03: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr%5f01/sr01%5f005.pdf; current access available via PURL.Bibliography: p. 33-34

Health and access to care among employed and unemployed adults: United States, 2009-2010

Lack of health insurance has been shown to be associated with problems obtaining needed health care (3), and the unemployed are less likely to have health insurance than are their employed counterparts. The number and rate of adults aged 18\ue2\u20ac\u201c64 years lacking health insurance has been increasing, in part due to the historically high unemployment rates. However, even having comprehensive health insurance coverage does not guarantee access to needed services, in part because of cost-sharing, including copayments and deductibles. Unemployed persons may retain their health insurance through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) or through other programs, but COBRA payments in particular may be quite expensive, and individual insurance plans may be less comprehensive than many employer-sponsored plans (4). Thus, although some unemployed adults may retain coverage for some period of time, they may be less able to meet cost-sharing requirements because of reduced income associated with unemployment. This analysis compares the health status and access to care of employed and unemployed adults and shows that unemployment is associated with unfavorable health and access to care among adults in the labor force over and above the loss of health insurance. However, it is not possible to know from these data the extent to which unemployment is a cause or effect of poor health. Poor health may be both a cause and effect of unemployment. Adults with private health insurance were more likely to have serious psychological distress and respondent-reported fair or poor health status if they were unemployed. In fact, unemployed privately insured persons were more than three times as likely to have serious psychological distress as their employed counterparts. Similar patterns were found for adults with public insurance and no health insurance. There were no significant differences between employed and unemployed adults in the percentage who had ever been diagnosed with selected chronic conditions, including hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, or cancer (NCHS unpublished analysis of NHIS data), and so the need for health care to treat these chronic conditions exists for both employed and unemployed adults. In addition to having poorer health, unemployed adults were more likely to delay or not receive needed medical care and needed prescriptions due to cost than their employed counterparts across categories of insurance coverage. Thus, the unemployed reported both worse health and less access to needed care and treatment than employed adults. This pattern was found not only for those without health insurance but also those with public and private insurance.Anne K. Driscoll and Amy B. Bernstein.Title from title screen (viewed on Feb. 8, 2012).January 2012.Mode of access: World Wide Web.System requirements: Adobe Acrobat reader.Includes bibliographical references (p. [8])

Three decades of twin births in the United States, 1980-2009

"The incidence of multiple births in the United States was quite stable at about 2 percent of all births from 1915 (the earliest year for which reliable data are available) through the 1970s. By the early 1980s, however, twinning rates, and those for triplet and higher-order multiples (triplet/+) began to rise, ultimately leading to what has been called "an epidemic of multiple pregnancies." The marked increase in multiple births is important for reasons beyond their relative rarity. Plural pregnancies tend to exact a greater toll on the health of the mother, and outcomes for births in multiple deliveries are often compromised compared with singletons. The rise in the rate of twins, which comprise the majority of multiples (96 percent in 2009), has had an unfavorable impact on key indicators of perinatal health such as rates of preterm birth and low birthweight. This report describes U.S. trends in births in twin deliveries for the 30-year period 1980-2009." - p. 1Joyce A. Martin, Brady E. Hamilton, and Michelle J.K. Osterman.Title from title screen (viewed on Jan. 25, 2012)."January 2012."Includes bibliographical references (p. 7).Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK. Three decades of twin births in the United States, 1980-2009. NCHS data brief, no 80. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2012.2261737