Estimates indicate that low income residents report five to 11 fewer healthy days per month compared to Americans with higher income levels. It is just a fact. Men are nearly four times more likely than women to commit suicide due to differences in mental health care. Birth rates for Hispanics and non-Hispanic black teens are three and 2.5 times respectively those of whites. Binge drinking is higher in people with higher incomes. Although substantial progress has been made in recent years, disparities continue.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that 41.5 percent of the workforce will be members of racial and ethnic minority groups within the decade. Even after controlling for economic and health insurance status, differences still appear in diagnosis and treatment of specific health conditions, utilization of preventive services and health outcomes.
This makes health disparities a business issue. Employers have begun to recognize that the quality of health care for their workers receive is important to employee health, productivity, performance and business outcomes.
Health disparities are the persistent gaps between the health status of minorities and non-minorities in the United States. All of these key insights into the strata and make-up of the United States is eye opening and a point of concern across the board. The data can be found in the new CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report – United States, 2011, which highlights health disparities by sex, race and ethnicity, income, education, disability status and other social characteristics.
Despite continued advances in health care and technology, racial and ethnic minorities continue to have higher rates of disease, disability and premature death than non-minorities.
CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. states:
“Better information about the health status of different groups is essential to improve health. This first of its kind analysis and reporting of recent trends is designed to spur action and accountability at the federal, tribal, state and local levels to achieve health equity in this country.”
The study also tracks birth rates. Adolescent pregnancy and childbirths have been falling or holding steady for all racial and ethnic minorities in all age groups. However, in 2008 disparities persisted as birth rates for Hispanic adolescents, 7.7% per 1,000 females and non-Hispanic black adolescents, 6.3% per 1,000 and were three and 2.5 times those of whites.
A key finding found rates of preventable hospitalizations increase as incomes decrease. Data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality indicate that eliminating these disparities would prevent approximately 1 million hospitalizations and save $6.7 billion in health care costs each year.
In 2009, the prevalence of binge drinking was higher in groups with incomes of $50,000 or above compared to those with incomes of $15,000 or less and in college graduates compared to those with less than high school education. However, people who binge drink and have less than $15,000 income binge drink more frequently and when they do binge drink, drink more heavily (7.1 versus 6.5 drinks).
Men of all ages and races/ethnicities were approximately four times more likely to die by suicide than females and rates of drug-induced deaths were highest among non-Hispanic whites and lowest among Asian/Pacific Islanders.
Hypertension is by far most prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks, while levels of control are lowest for Mexican-Americans (31.8% versus 46.5% among non-Hispanic whites).
Read the full report:
Written By Sy Kraft, B.A.