Top Health Stories of 1999,
based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
Contact: NCHS/CDC Public
Affairs (301) 458-4800
E-mail: nchsquery@cdc.gov
AIDS Falls From Top 15 Causes Of
Death; Homicides Decline; ButNo Change In Infant Mortality
The age-adjusted death rate from HIV infection in the U.S. declined an estimated 21
percent to the lowest rate since 1987, following a 48-percent decline from 1996 to 1997.
AIDS no longer ranks in the top 15 leading causes of death in America. However, for the
25-44 year age group, the disease still ranks fifth and HIV remains the leading cause of
death among African American men ages 25-44. The preliminary age-adjusted homicide rate
fell an estimated 14 percent in 1998, the fifth straight year of decline. In 1998, the
overall infant mortality rate was the same as the record low reported in 1997. It is the
first time there has been no improvement in this measure in nearly four decades.
From: "Births and Deaths: Preliminary Data for 1998" View/download PDF 362 KB
Decreasing Hospital use for
HIV/AIDS The latest data on hospitalization in the United States show decreasing hospital
use for patients with HIV. The findings, which reflect medical advances as well as changes
in health policy and health care delivery, show that patients with HIV had 71,000 fewer
hospitalizations in 1997 than in 1995, for a 30 percent drop in the rate of
hospitalization. Those patients who were hospitalized had shorter stays, resulting in
almost 900,000 fewer total days of hospital care for HIV in 1997 compared with 1995.
From: "Decreasing
Hospital Use for HIV," Health E-Stats
Longer Hospital Stay for
Childbirth
NCHS reports an increase from 1995 to 1997 in the average length of hospital stay for
childbirth in the United States, after a
long period of increasingly shorter stays over the past two decades. The average hospital
stay for all women who delivered was 2.4 days in 1997 compared with 2.1 days in 1995; in
1980 the average stay was 3.8 days. The number of women hospitalized for 1 day or less for
childbirth dropped from 1.4 million in 1995 to 951,000 in 1997. From: "Longer Hospital Stay
for Childbirth," Health E-Stats
New Report Documents Improvements
in America's Health;Best Rating in Two Decades for Annual Review
The annual progress report for Healthy People 2000 shows that the Nation is on track to
reach, or has already reached, the targets for more than one-half of its 300 objectives in
health promotion and disease prevention. Overall, 15 percent of the objectives have met
their targets, including many in such diverse areas as nutrition, maternal and child
health, heart disease, and mental health. An additional 44 percent of the objectives are
progressing on schedule toward the target. However, the report also shows that a fifth of
the objectives are moving away from their targets. Some key objectives, such as reducing
the number of overweight individuals and increasing physical activity have either moved in
the wrong direction or improved little.
From: "Healthy People 2000 Progress Review, 1998-99" View/download PDF 2.9 MB
Teen Birth Rate Continues to
Drop; Drives U.S. Birth Rate to Record Low
The national birth rate dropped to a record low in 1997, due in part to the continuing
decline in the teen birth rate across the country. Overall, the teen birth rate declined
by 16 percent from 1991 to 1997,
with all States recording a decline in the birth rate of 15-19 year-olds between 1991 and
1997. It is the sixth year in a row that the teen birth rate has declined.
From: "Births: Final Data for 1997" View/download PDF 676 KB
New NHANES Survey
The Nation's most comprehensive study on the health and nutritional status of Americans
began the latest phase in this survey, which will now be conducted on a continuous basis
to profile the health of the Nation. Each year, approximately 5,000 randomly selected
residents in up to 15 counties across the country will have the opportunity to participate
in this latest National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). NHANES has
provided much of what is known about heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes and is the
source of children's growth charts used worldwide to measure children's growth and
development.
From: "New NHANES
Survey Kicks Off"
Annual Report on Nation's Health
Spotlights Elderly
A new report shows that a growing and increasingly diverse elderly population in the U.S.
is living longer but still faces health challenges as the next century approaches.
Contributing to longer life expectancy is the significant and long-term decline in
mortality, especially from heart disease. Death rates from heart disease among persons
aged 65-84 years have been reduced by half. The annual "report card" features a special chartbook on the
health of the elderly.
From: "Health,
United States, 1999, with Health and Aging Chartbook"
Attendant, Place and Timing, and
Use of Obstetric Interventions of U.S. Births Change Over Past Decade
Midwives and doctors of osteopathy were increasingly more likely to attend births;
obstetric procedures, such as electronic fetal monitoring increased substantially;
induction of labor doubled; and
babies were more frequently delivered on weekdays--just a few of the changes in birth
patterns in the United States during the 1990's. The report also found that for the first time in this decade, the rate of
cesarean births increased slightly between 1996 and 1997 after a steady downward trend
between 1989 and 1996.
From: Trends in the
Attendant, Place, and Timing of Births, and in the Use of Obstetric Interventions: United
States, 1989-97
Over One-Half of Americans are
Overweight
Data from the newly released 1997 National Health Interview Survey show that more than 50 percent of U.S. adults are
overweight, and 1 in 5 adults are obese. Overweight and obesity are risk factors for a
variety of chronic health conditions, including hypertension and diabetes. Overweight
increased steadily with age, peaking in the age group 45-64 years, and declining somewhat
in the older ages. Among those 45-64 years, 70 percent of men and 55 percent of women were
overweight.
From: "Prevalence
of Overweight and Obesity Among Adults in the United States," Health E-Stats