Health care utilization and costs of adult cardiovascular conditions, United States, 1980

Cardiovascular conditions have a major economic as well as health impact on adults in the United States. In the National Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey, conducted during 1980, health service data were obtained from a national sample of 17,123 civilian noninstitutionalized individuals. These data have been analyzed to define the impact and demographic patterns of health care utilization and costs attributable to adult cardiovascular conditions. Approximately 28 million persons in the United States, or 17.3 percent of the total civilian noninstitutionalized population 17 years of age and over, had a cardiovascular condition during 1980. Cardiovascular conditions were reported with increasing frequency in successively older age groups and were reported most frequently by black persons. The prevalence and economic impact differed by specific type of cardiovascular condition and whether the condition was complicated by another disease. To examine these differences, persons reporting cardiovascular conditions were categorized into four mutually exclusive groups: persons with hypertension alone, persons with arteriosclerotic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease associated with hypertension, persons with arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease alone, and persons with cardiovascular disease associated with other conditions that might alter medical care utilization and disability. The disability, service utilization, and health care charges were compared among these groups, and data for each group were compared with those for the overall U.S. population. Survey participants were asked to rate their health relative to that of other people their age. The self-rating of persons reporting hypertension alone was lower than the national average. Only 17 percent of the general population rated their health as "fair" or "poor," but 27 percent of persons with hypertension alone used these descriptions.Written by: William R. Harlan, P. Ellen Parsons, and others.Includes bibliographical references (p. 28-29).19891031347