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Women are more likely than men to seek preventive care. In
2000, females made 488 million office visits and males made
335 million. Of these visits, females made a greater proportion
for preventive/non-illness care (21.2 percent) than men (14.7
percent), although the inclusion of pregnancy-related examinations
in the non-illness category could account for some of the
observed difference. Dental care is an important component
of preventive services. In 2001, the majority (66.7 percent)
of women reported having visited a dentist in the last year
while 12.0 percent reported they had not visited a dentist
in over 5 years. Immunizations are also an important component
of preventive care. Among women aged 65 and older, non-Hispanic
White women obtained the highest rates of annual influenza
(flu) vaccination and lifetime pneumococcal vaccination in
2001.
Healthy behaviors, like regular physical activity and
healthy nutritional choices, are critical to a long and
healthy life.
Unfortunately, women are less likely to engage in light
or moderate leisure time physical activity than men. They
are
also less likely to consume recommended servings of fruits
and vegetables. However, vitamin-mineral supplement use
is common, with nearly 57 percent of U.S. women taking
at least
one vitamin-mineral supplement in the year 2000.
Maintaining
the health of women during and after pregnancy is integral
to life-long health. Over 3.9 million women
gave birth in 2001; however almost 42,000 of these women
delivered
without benefit of prenatal care. The growing proportion
of births to women 35 years or older and excessive weight
gains in pregnancy prompt concerns about chronic conditions
and subsequent obesity. Breastfeeding, with its numerous
benefits for women and their infants, has increased to
the highest recorded rates both while in the hospital
and at
six months postpartum.
Mental health is a critical component
of a person's overall health. More women than men report
serious mental illness
across all age groups. Higher suicide death rates are
reported for both non-Hispanic White and Asian/Pacific
Islander
women than other racial and ethnic groups (4.7 and
4.6 per 100,000
females respectively). Despite these needs, in 2001,
5.7 million women reported an unmet need for mental
health treatment or counseling. Nonetheless, the estimated
number
of women
receiving mental health treatment or counseling increased
in 2001 to 14.4 million from 13.2 million in 2000.
Substance
abuse is also an important health concern among women
with 27.3 percent of women aged 18-25 and 20.5
percent of females aged 12-17 having used some type
of illicit
drug in 2001. Marijuana/hashish was reported as the
leading illicit
drug used by women of all ages.
Some health conditions
are more prevalent among women than men, including arthritis,
lupus, and bleeding
disorders. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability
for women,
while lupus is the most commonly diagnosed autoimmune
disease
and
von Willebrand Disease is the most common bleeding
disorder in women. Women are also disproportionately
affected
by such conditions as diabetes and asthma. The prevalence
of diabetes
mellitus increases with age and is higher among people
who are overweight or obese. Racial and ethnic disparities
also
exist with the rate for non-Hispanic Black women
nearly twice the rate for non-Hispanic White women and
1.5
times the rate
for Hispanic women in 2001. Women with diabetes mellitus
face special concerns, including an increased risk
of heart
disease, blindness and complications during pregnancy.
In 2000, diabetes mellitus was the fifth ranked cause
of death
for U.S. females, accounting for 37,699 deaths. Women
are also more likely to suffer from asthma, with
women aged
64 and younger experiencing asthma at nearly two
times the rate
of men.
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