CDC Releases 2009 U.S. Health Stats

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics has released its annual report, titled Health, United States, 2009. This year's edition contains a special focus on medical technology. The report is available for free online:

1. The complete report (PDF; 574 pages)
   
2. "In Brief" edition (PDF; 15 pages)
3. The CDC's Health United States Website also contains special topics and downloadable presentations and charts.
   

A couple of findings from the data:

• The gap in life expectancy at birth between white persons and black persons persists but has narrowed since 1990.
• After declining substantially between 1950 and 2000, infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality rates have remained constant in recent years.
• The prevalence of diabetes, serious heart conditions, and hypertension among adults 45 - 64 years of age is strongly associated with poverty status.
• The percentage of American adults who are obese has doubled over the past three decades to about one-third of all adults.
• The use of statin drugs increased almost 10-fold from 1988 - 1994 to 2003 - 2006; during the same period, the use of antidiabetic drugs increased by 50%.
• Personal health care expenditures paid by Medicaid have increased on average 9% per year, Medicare 8% per year, private health insurance 7% per year, and out-of-pocket payments 4% per year since 1990.

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