Report: Adults Made Fewer Medical Visits 2010 vs. 2001

American adults made roughly 18.8 percent fewer medical visits in 2010 compared with their visits in 2001, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report (pdf).

The report, "Health Status, Health Insurance, and Medical Services Utilization: 2010," examined utilization of medical services based on health status and health insurance. In 2010, adults aged 18 and over made an average of 3.9 visits to physicians, nurses or other medical providers, whereas in 2001 they made 4.8.

The report also included data on hospital night stays for the previous year, 2009.

Some key data points about hospital night stays include the following:

•    Among adults aged 18 and over, 92.4 percent never spent a night in a hospital, and 1.4 percent spent eight or more nights in a hospital.
•    Men were more likely to spend zero nights in the hospital (93.7 percent) than women (91.1 percent) were.
•    Among people aged 65 and older, 83.1 percent spent zero nights in a hospital and 4.6 percent spent eight or more nights in a hospital, compared with 95.9 percent and 0.4 percent of children, respectively.
•    Among people in poverty, 91.6 percent spent zero nights in the hospital and 1.8 percent spent eight or more nights in a hospital, compared with 93.5 percent and 0.9 percent of people with family income that was 400 percent of their poverty threshold or greater, respectively.

More Articles on Healthcare Utilization:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of N.C. Invests in FastMed Urgent Care to Promote Appropriate ED Use
Top 10 Diagnoses for One-Time ED Users and Super-Users in New York City

Healthcare Spending Among Insured Climbed 4.6% in 2011

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