TROUBLING U.S. HEALTH CARE STATS.

The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Counsel announced the pre-publication release of their report on their recent comparison of health care data between the U.S. and 16 other countries which crosses all age categories. The other countries include Canada, Japan, Australia, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Spain. This is a fascinating read entitled U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health is currently available to read on line for free at the National Academies Press website. The U.S. generally finished near the bottom in most categories for the population under the age of 75.  Our post 75 population, outscores their peers elsewhere. 

The study lists 9 principal areas where the U.S. trails internationally. They include,

1. Adverse birth outcomes.
2. Injuries and homicides.
3. Teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
4. HIV and Aids.
5. Drug related mortality.
6. Obesity and diabetes.
7. Heart Diseases.
8. Chronic lung disease.
9. Disability ( arthritis, etc.)

 

Some of the areas in which the U.S. excels may seem contradictory.

1. Lower rates of smoking.
2. Lower stroke mortality.
3. Lower blood pressure & Cholesterol levels.
4. Higher average household income.
5. U.S. suicides.
6. Cancer screening and survival.

 

Interestingly, recent immigrants to the U.S. score better in the health categories than U.S. born citizens. We have a higher prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse in our under 50 population. We have the highest rate of poverty. There also appears to be some correlation of level of education for some diseases such as diabetes where non-high school graduates score 3 times the incidence of graduates with some college, but even our college and high income population fares worse than our international peers.

There doesn’t seem to be a clear answer to the reasons why given that we outspend in healthcare all of the comparative countries by a wide margin.  We also have lost ground since the 1950s when we were considered the leader in most of the fields evaluated. What can Ozzie and Harriet tell us?