Table 16_4_4-1d

2009 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 16_4_4.1d
People unable to get or delayed in getting needed prescription medicines, by education,^a United States, 2006
		Total		Less than high school		High school graduate		At least some college
Population group		Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE
Total		4.8	0.2	6.1	0.4	5.2	0.4	4.1	0.2
Age	18–44	4.1	0.3	4.2	0.5	5.3	0.5	3.4	0.3
	45–64	5.9	0.4	10.1	1.0	5.4	0.5	5.0	0.4
	65 and over	4.8	0.5	5.9	0.9	4.5	0.7	4.4	0.7
Gender	Male	3.8	0.2	5.1	0.5	4.0	0.5	3.1	0.3
Gender	Female	5.8	0.3	7.1	0.6	6.3	0.5	5.0	0.4
Race	White, single race	4.7	0.2	5.9	0.5	5.1	0.4	4.1	0.3
	Black, single race	5.9	0.5	6.7	0.8	6.0	0.7	5.5	0.8
	Asian, single race	1.9	0.6	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	NHOPI, single race	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	AI/AN, single race	8.7	2.3	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	Multiple races	6.8	1.6	DSU	DSU	10.0	2.9	DSU	DSU
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	5.1	0.2	7.7	0.6	5.4	0.4	4.1	0.3
	Non-Hispanic, White	5.0	0.3	8.0	0.7	5.3	0.5	4.2	0.3
	Non-Hispanic, Black	6.0	0.5	6.9	0.8	6.1	0.7	5.5	0.8
	Hispanic, all races	3.2	0.4	2.7	0.4	3.4	0.8	3.8	1.0
Family income^b	Negative/poor	8.7	0.6	8.7	0.9	9.1	1.2	8.3	1.1
	Near poor/low	7.1	0.6	7.6	0.9	6.7	0.8	6.9	0.9
	Middle	4.9	0.4	4.3	0.6	5.5	0.6	4.8	0.5
	High	2.8	0.2	3.2	0.9	2.6	0.4	2.9	0.3
Employment status, ages 18–64	Employed	4.2	0.2	5.0	0.5	4.7	0.5	3.7	0.3
Employment status, ages 18–64	Not employed	7.5	0.5	8.4	0.9	7.9	0.8	6.5	0.8
Health insurance, ages 18–64	Any private	3.7	0.2	3.7	0.6	4.0	0.4	3.5	0.3
	Public only	9.3	0.8	9.6	1.2	8.0	1.2	11.0	1.7
	Uninsured	7.2	0.6	7.3	0.9	8.3	1.0	5.9	0.9
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	4.2	0.7	4.9	1.2	2.9	0.8	DSU	DSU
	Medicare and private	4.9	0.7	6.0	1.5	5.1	1.0	4.2	0.8
	Medicare and other public	6.2	1.2	6.6	1.7	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
Residence location^c	Metropolitan	4.7	0.2	5.9	0.5	5.0	0.4	4.0	0.3
	Large central metro	4.2	0.3	5.4	0.7	4.1	0.5	3.7	0.4
	Large fringe metro	4.5	0.4	6.1	1.2	5.0	0.8	3.8	0.4
	Medium metro	5.5	0.6	5.8	1.2	6.4	0.9	4.7	0.7
	Small metro	4.8	0.7	7.5	1.3	4.2	0.9	4.2	0.9
	Nonmetropolitan	5.6	0.5	6.9	0.9	5.9	0.8	4.5	0.6
	Micropolitan	5.3	0.5	5.8	1.1	5.7	0.9	4.7	0.7
	Noncore	6.1	0.9	8.9	1.4	6.3	1.3	4.1	0.9
Language spoken most often at home	English	5.1	0.2	7.3	0.5	5.5	0.4	4.3	0.3
Language spoken most often at home	Other	2.2	0.3	2.9	0.5	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	3.6	0.2	4.0	0.4	4.1	0.4	3.3	0.2
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	12.8	0.7	13.2	1.1	12.0	1.0	13.3	1.3
Activity limitations,^c age 18 and over	Basic activities	12.2	0.7	14.6	1.3	11.1	1.0	11.4	1.2
	Complex activities	14.9	0.9	16.5	1.8	13.7	1.4	15.0	1.6
	Neither basic nor complex activities	3.5	0.2	3.7	0.4	3.9	0.4	3.2	0.2

^a People age 18 and over. 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.

^b Negative/poor refers to household incomes below the Federal poverty line; near poor/low, 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.

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

DSU - 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 March 2010

Internet Citation: Table 16_4_4-1d: 2009 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. March 2010. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr09/16_facilitators_barriers/T16_4_4-1d.html