Prowling through the Census Bureau 2010 Statistical Abstract
by Clive Riddle, January 15, 2010
Okay, so sifting through The 2010 Statistical Abstract may not rank up there with bungee jumping or running with the bulls (book your trip to the Pamplona Spain San Fermin Festival this July 6th through the 14th) on the adrenaline rush meter, and might not be recommended to list as a favorite activity in your Facebook profile, but just the same, there’s some pretty cool, free and easy to access health care data tables available in the Abstract.
I grabbed a few of the excel files from the various categories of health care tables that I found interesting, and compiled summary information from three items I thought would be worth sharing:
From Table 160. Percent Distribution of Number of Visits to Health Care Professionals by Selected Characteristics: I wanted to see how the pie slices up by selected age group for frequency of annual visits to doctors and other health care professionals
|
Annual Visits by Selected Age Group |
Zero |
1-3 |
4-9 |
10+ |
|
Under 18 years |
10.3% |
57.0% |
25.5% |
7.2% |
|
45 to 64 years |
14.9% |
45.3% |
23.9% |
15.9% |
|
65 to 74 years |
8.4% |
35.4% |
36.0% |
20.3% |
|
75 years and over |
5.5% |
30.6% |
36.4% |
27.5% |
[2007 data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, Health, United States, published 2009.]
From Table 158. Physicians by Sex and Specialty: I wanted to calculate the percentage that were primary care physicians (family practice, internal medicine and pediatrics- I left out Ob-Gyns), and I was surprised to see the percentage has gone up over time
|
|
1980 |
1990 |
2000 |
2007 |
|
% Primary Care MDs |
28.5% |
31.6% |
34.3% |
34.7% |
[Calculated from Source: American Medical Association, Chicago, IL, Physician Characteristics and Distribution in the U.S. annual]
From Table 153. Retail Prescription Drug Sales: I was interested in calculating the percentage mix of prescription sales by type of retail outlet. What you can see is the decline of independent pharmacies and the rise of mail order
|
Retail Outlet: |
1995 |
2000 |
2005 |
2008 |
|
Traditional chain |
38.5% |
40.6% |
39.6% |
41.0% |
|
Independent |
30.4% |
23.0% |
19.2% |
17.3% |
|
Mass merchant |
10.7% |
9.3% |
9.7% |
9.8% |
|
Supermarkets |
10.2% |
12.0% |
11.9% |
10.2% |
|
Mail order |
10.2% |
15.2% |
19.6% |
21.7% |
[Calculated from Source: National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Alexandria, VA,NACDS Foundation Chain Pharmacy Industry Profile, 2008]
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www.mcolblog.com, how do you do it?