THURSDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Working adults with health insurance are not meeting recommendations for clinical preventive services, and, among these workers, there are disparities related to socioeconomic status, according to research published in the May/June issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.
M. Courtney Hughes, Ph.D., of the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Seattle, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 2004 to 2005 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. They analyzed self-reported information about lifestyle-related behaviors and use of clinical preventive services from adults aged 18 to 64 years (139,738 in 2004 and 159,755 in 2005) who were non-institutionalized, employed and insured.
The researchers found that recommended preventive services were underutilized: on the low end, 8.5 percent did not get recommended cervical cancer screening, while 73.9 percent did not get receive influenza vaccination. Rates of engaging in unhealthy lifestyle behaviors ranged from 5.5 percent (heavy drinking) to 77 percent (insufficient fruit and vegetable consumption). Lower income, cost as a barrier to health care, lack of a health care provider, and lower education all were associated with a significant decrease in clinical preventive services utilization. Factors significantly associated with risky lifestyle-related behaviors included lower education and having no health care provider.
"We found that a large proportion of working insured adults are not meeting recommendations for health behaviors. In addition, we found significant disparities related to income, education, and access to health care. Our results are consistent with findings from studies examining the entire U.S. adult population; that is, poor health behaviors and disparities based on demographic factors exist," the authors write.
Abstract
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