Table 12_1_5-2

2008 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports

The National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) is a comprehensive national overview of quality of health care in the United States. It is organized around four dimensions of quality of care: effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, and patient centeredness.

Table 12_1_5.2
Adults who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months whose health providers explained things in a way they could understand, United States, 2002
Population group		Total population (in thousands)^d	Percent had visit	Health providers explained things clearly
				Always		Usually		Sometimes or never
				Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE
Total		211,389	72.0	58.0	0.6	33.0	0.5	9.0	0.3
Age	18–44	109,805	63.3	56.3	0.7	33.4	0.7	10.2	0.4
	45–64	67,411	78.0	59.0	0.8	32.8	0.8	8.2	0.4
	65 and over	34,173	88.3	60.1	1.2	32.5	1.1	7.4	0.5
Gender	Male	101,486	63.2	57.6	0.8	33.3	0.7	9.1	0.4
Gender	Female	109,904	80.1	58.3	0.7	32.8	0.6	8.9	0.3
Race	White, single race	174,268	73.0	57.7	0.6	33.9	0.5	8.5	0.3
	Black, single race	23,794	67.6	64.2	1.3	25.2	1.3	10.6	0.8
	Asian, single race	8,739	63.0	49.5	2.7	38.0	2.4	12.5	1.7
	NHOPI, single race	569	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
	AI/AN, single race	1,765	69.5	64.9	4.9	16.1	3.1	19.0	3.2
	Multiple races	2,254	77.2	48.8	4.4	39.8	4.4	11.4	2.3
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	185,541	74.3	57.9	0.6	33.8	0.5	8.4	0.3
	Non-Hispanic, White	149,367	76.0	57.5	0.6	34.8	0.6	7.7	0.3
	Non-Hispanic, Black	23,442	67.5	64.0	1.4	25.3	1.3	10.7	0.8
	Hispanic	25,849	55.2	59.5	1.3	25.6	1.1	14.9	1.0
Family income^a	Negative/poor	22,136	66.9	57.0	1.4	28.8	1.3	14.2	1.0
	Near poor/low	36,048	66.6	56.7	1.3	32.6	1.2	10.7	0.7
	Middle	66,429	69.1	58.1	0.9	32.4	0.8	9.5	0.5
	High	86,776	77.6	58.6	0.8	34.5	0.7	6.9	0.4
Education^b	Less than high school	44,519	65.6	57.0	1.1	29.9	1.0	13.1	0.7
	High school graduate	69,198	69.2	57.4	0.8	32.7	0.8	9.9	0.4
	At least some college	96,344	76.9	58.7	0.8	34.5	0.7	6.8	0.4
Employment status, ages 18–64	Employed	142,664	67.3	57.7	0.6	33.6	0.6	8.8	0.3
Employment status, ages 18–64	Not employed	34,543	75.5	56.8	1.1	31.6	0.9	11.6	0.7
Health insurance, ages 18–64	Any private	134,592	73.6	57.6	0.6	34.5	0.6	7.9	0.3
	Public only	14,896	75.8	59.8	1.5	25.3	1.3	14.9	1.1
	Uninsured	27,728	42.2	54.1	1.6	29.2	1.4	16.7	1.2
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	9,790	86.3	61.1	1.9	30.4	1.8	8.5	1.0
	Medicare and private	20,417	89.7	59.2	1.5	34.1	1.4	6.7	0.7
	Medicare and other public	3,692	88.3	62.3	2.9	29.0	2.8	8.7	1.6
Residence location^c	Metropolitan	176,407	71.7	58.0	0.6	32.9	0.5	9.1	0.3
	Large central metro	64,336	68.9	57.1	0.9	32.1	0.9	10.8	0.6
	Large fringe metro	50,250	74.3	57.2	0.9	34.5	0.9	8.3	0.5
	Medium metro	43,344	73.3	58.9	1.3	33.1	1.2	8.0	0.6
	Small metro	18,478	70.5	61.1	1.7	30.6	1.5	8.3	0.8
	Nonmetropolitan	34,982	73.2	58.2	1.4	33.5	1.2	8.4	0.5
	Micropolitan	23,481	74.3	59.1	1.7	33.4	1.5	7.4	0.6
	Noncore	11,501	70.8	56.0	2.2	33.5	1.7	10.4	1.1
Language spoken most often at home	English	187,887	74.2	58.2	0.6	33.4	0.5	8.4	0.3
Language spoken most often at home	Other	23,440	53.6	56.0	1.6	28.7	1.4	15.2	1.1
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	183,616	69.7	59.3	0.6	32.8	0.5	7.9	0.3
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	27,773	87.3	50.9	1.2	34.1	1.1	15.0	0.8
Activity limitations^c	Basic activities	27,816	88.1	52.5	1.2	35.2	1.1	12.3	0.7
	Complex activities	16,562	89.3	52.1	1.4	33.7	1.4	14.2	0.9
	Neither basic nor complex activities	178,922	69.3	59.2	0.6	32.6	0.5	8.2	0.3

^a Negative/poor refers to household incomes below the Federal poverty line; near poor/low, at or over the poverty line to just below 200 percent of the poverty line; middle, 200 percent to just below 400 percent of the poverty line; and high, 400 percent of the poverty line and over.

^b Less than high school refers to fewer than 12 years of education; high school graduate, 12 years of education; and at least some college, more than 12 years of education.

^c For more information, see the MEPS entry in Appendix A, Data Sources.

^d Total adult population, age 18 and over. Numbers may not add to total due to missing values or rounding.

* - Data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality, or confidentiality.

Key: AI/AN: American Indian or Alaska Native; NHOPI: Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; SE: standard error.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Current as of September 2009

Internet Citation: Table 12_1_5-2: 2008 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. September 2009. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr08/12_patientcenteredness/T12_1_5-2.html