Blood pressure awareness rises

 

Now they know it

16%

The proportion of U.S. adults with high blood pressure in 2011–14 who did not know it.

46%

The amount this number declined since 1999–2002.

Uninsured adults, Asian and Hispanic adults, adults younger than 40 and men were more likely to be unaware they had high blood pressure than were other demographic groups. 

Source: "Characteristics of U.S. Adults With Hypertension Who Are Unaware of Their Hypertension, 2011–2014," NCHS Data Brief No. 278, National Center for Health Statistics, April 2017

 

Disparity between black, white death rates declining

25%

The amount the age-adjusted death rate declined for black Americans between 1999 and 2015. 

14%

The rate it declined for white Americans in the same period.

16%

The disparity between black and white death rates at the end of this time frame.

33%

What the disparity was at the start.

Source: "Vital Signs: Racial Disparities in Age-Specific Mortality Among Blacks or African Americans — United States, 1999–2015," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 5, 2017

 

Zika's costly potential 

$183 million

What a Zika outbreak that infected 0.01% of the population in six U.S. states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas) could cost, according to a recent study.

$10.3 billion

What it would cost if 10% of the population were affected. The figures reflect estimates of direct medical costs, Medicaid costs and productivity losses.

Source: "The Potential Economic Burden of Zika in the Continental United States," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, April 27, 2017

 

Fewer chronically uninsured

7.6%

The estimated percentage of adults younger than 65 who were uninsured for more than one year when surveyed in the first nine months of 2016.

16.8%

The percentage who were chronically uninsured in 2010.

Source: "Changes in Characteristics of Chronically Uninsured Adults: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, 2010–September 2016," National Center for Health Statistics, April 2017