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A Profile of Older Americans: 2011
Health and Health Care
In 2000-2009, 40.0% of noninstitutionalized older persons assessed their health as excellent or very good (compared to 64.7% for all persons aged 18-64 years). There was little difference between the sexes on this measure, but older African-Americans** (26.0%), older American Indians/Alaska Natives (24.3%) and older Hispanics (28.2%) were less likely to rate their health as excellent or very good than were older Whites** (42.8%) or older Asians (35.3%)†. Most older persons have at least one chronic condition and many have multiple conditions. In 2007-2009, the most frequently occurring conditions among older persons were: uncontrolled hypertension (34%), diagnosed arthritis (50%), all types of heart disease (32%), any cancer (23%), diabetes (19%), and sinusitis (14%).
Almost 63% reported in 2010 that they received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months and 59% reported that they had ever received a pneumococcal vaccination. About 27.7% (of persons 60+) report height/weight combinations that place them among the obese. Almost 35% of persons aged 65-74 and 24% of persons 75+ report that they engage in regular leisure-time physical activity. Only 9.5% reported that they are current smokers and only 5% reported excessive alcohol consumption. Only 2% reported that they had experienced psychological distress during the past 30 days.
In 2007, about 12.9 million persons aged 65 and older were discharged from short stay hospitals. This is a rate of 3,395 for every 10,000 persons aged 65+ which is about three times the comparable rate for persons of all ages (which was 1,149 per 10,000). The average length of stay for persons aged 65+ was
5.6 days; the comparable rate for persons of all ages was 4.8 days. The average length of stay for older people has decreased by 5 days since 1980. Older persons averaged more office visits with doctors in 2007: 7.1 office visits for those aged 65 and over while persons aged 45-65 averaged only 3.7 office visits during that year. In 2010, almost 97% of older persons reported that they did have a usual place to go for medical care and only 3.0% said that they failed to obtain needed medical care during the previous 12 months due to financial barriers.
In 2010 older consumers averaged out-of-pocket health care expenditures of $4,843, an increase of 49% since 2000. In contrast, the total population spent considerably less, averaging $3,157 in out-of-pocket costs. Older Americans spent 13.2% of their total expenditures on health, more than twice the proportion spent by all consumers (6.6%). Health costs incurred on average by older consumers in 2010 consisted of $3,085 (65%) for insurance, $795 (18%) for medical services, $805 (17%) for drugs, and $158 (3.0%) for medical supplies.
(Sources: Data releases from the web sites of the National Center for Health Statistics; and from the Bureau of Labor Statistics web site)
† These figures are from 2006-2008 data
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| Last Modified: 2/10/2012 7:11:49 AM |
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