Forty-five percent of Connecticut adults, in a survey released Wednesday, reported that they have been diagnosed with a chronic disease such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, heart disease or cancer.
That rate was “very high,” said Frances Padilla, president of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut. She said she was also struck that 28 percent of adults aged 18 to 44 reported in the new Connecticut Health Care Survey that they have one of those serious illnesses.
“With so many people reporting chronic illnesses and their complications, we have to have better access to care,’’ she said.
Six health foundations released the results of a telephone survey of 5,447 adults conducted between June 2012 and February 2013. As in previous reports, the survey found persistent disparities in health care between racial and ethnic groups, but foundation officials said this is the first time residents have provided details about their own health.
“You don’t hear from the users enough,” said Lisa Honigfeld, vice president for health initiatives for the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut. “We need their input.”
While many state residents have access to high-quality health care, blacks and Latinos were more likely than whites to rate their health as fair or poor, have higher rates of obesity and say that cost has kept them from filling prescriptions.
They were also less likely to have health insurance, although that could change now that 208,000 residents have signed up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, said Patricia Baker, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation.
“The issue we face is of health equity and disparity in Connecticut,’’ Baker said. “We have disparities in the prevalence of obesity, diabetes and other conditions.”
Some of the survey’s findings include:
• Twenty-three percent of adults reported that they were obese, compared to a national average of 29 percent, and 34 percent of the adults reported that their children were overweight or obese.
• Thirteen percent of children were reported to have….
To read full article: http://c-hit.org/2014/05/14/ct-health-survey-45-of-adults-suffer-from-chronic-disease/
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