Via Undernews
BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL - More than a quarter of US women delayed or went without care that they believed they needed in the past year because they could not afford it. That is an increase of 3% from 2001. This central finding came from a survey of 2766 women aged 18 and older by the Kaiser Family Foundation and released as part of a panel discussion on 7 July at their conference centre in Washington, DC.
Much of the focus in the United States has been on people who do not have any health insurance. But the problem goes beyond that to one of co-payments, where the patient has to contribute a proportion of the costs, for prescriptions or doctors' visits, said Diane Rowland, a Kaiser vice president who was responsible for the survey. "Even small costs serve as a barrier to care," she said.
"Given that women are, on the whole, lower income than men, this is a very important women's health issue," said Dr Paula Johnson, director of the Connors Center for Women's Health and Biology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.
Women are more likely than men to report a chronic condition that needs ongoing medical attention (38% v 30%), and they are more likely than men to use a prescription medicine on a regular basis (56% v 42%).
They are more than twice as likely as men to have been diagnosed as having depression or anxiety (23% v 11%). How much of this reflects a cultural bias of diagnosis and how much reflects the impact of an often lower economic status or social burdens, such as being the principal care giver within a family, is unclear.
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/331/7509/130-e?ecoll
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