Healthy Lifestyles

Jump to another page... Introduction Leisure Time Physical Activity Healthy Body weight Fruit Consumption Vegetable Consumption Use of Food Labels Smoking Use of Safety Belts Use of Child Safety Seats Health Insurance Coverage Routine Annual Medical Checkups Regular Dental Checkups Health Status Direct Care Physicians to Population Ratio Primary Care Physician to Population Ratio General Practice Dentists to Population Ratio

Health insurance coverage

Having no health insurance coverage is a major barrier to the access of healthcare. The Healthy People 2010 objective is for 100 percent of the population to have health insurance. BRFSS data indicate that the number of residents in Bexar County without health insurance increased between 2002 and the 2004–05 survey from 20 percent to 23 percent. Statewide 28 percent of the population do not currently have any kind of health care coverage, this includes health insurance, prepaid plans, or government plans. These statewide rates differ from the rates from the well-publicized statistic referring to Texas’ three-year average uninsured rate of 25 percent, the highest in the nation. The discrepancy is the result of questions being asked differently in the BRFSS and the Current Population Survey (CPS). CPS reports that 25 percent of the population is uninsured. The CPS asked whether a person was considered covered by health insurance at some time during the year if he or she was covered by at least one type of coverage. An individual may have more than one type of coverage during the year.

Within Bexar County, the northern sectors reported higher rates of coverage compared to the southern sectors. Forty-two percent of residents in the South sector responded as having no health insurance. The West and East sectors reported 30 and 28 percent respectively. The North Central sector reported 19 percent without health insurance. The Northeast and Northwest sectors had the lowest rate with no health insurance at 16 percent. This finding does not refute reports that indicate that 25 percent of the Bexar County population is uninsured. The BRFSS survey asks about any form of coverage, respondents may have included availability of county services such as nurse triage or even the emergency room as coverage.

Routine annual medical checkups

Having routine annual medical checkups is another indicator of a healthy lifestyle. In 2005, 63 percent of adults in Texas and Harris County indicated they had seen a physician in the past year. Sixty-six percent of Bexar County adults reported having a medical checkup in the past year. This is a decrease from 80 percent of Bexar County adults who reported checkups in 2002. The BRFSS sample size for this indicator to too small to estimate rates for sectors. In south Bexar County the number of adults reporting routine checkups dropped from 80 percent in 2002 to 63 percent in 2005. In the northern sectors of Bexar County the rate dropped from 80 percent in 2002 to 67 percent in 2005. It is possible that there is not a significant difference between the north and south sectors (sampling error is ± 4 percent), however the 13 to 17 drop in routine care is statistically significant.

Regular dental checkups

Like regular medical checkups, regular dental checkups are important elements of a healthy lifestyle. Left untreated oral diseases become more complicated over time and

may impact aspects of physical and mental health. The surgeon general’s report on oral health in 2000 noted that new research is finding that there are links between chronic oral infections and heart disease, stroke, lung disease, and even premature births.¹⁷ The Healthy People goal in this regard is to increase the number of those who use the

oral health care system each year to 56 percent. Fifty-nine percent of Bexar County residents surveyed reported visiting a dentist within the past six months, indicating a decrease from 66 percent reported in 2002. The northern sectors of the county reported higher rates of dentist visits, with the highest being reported in the Northwest sector, at 70 percent and the Northeast and North Central sectors both at 63 percent. The BRFSS sample was too small to report reliable rates for the all sectors in the south of the county. Overall, in south Bexar County 47 percent of residents in the southern sectors reported having seen a dentist in the past six months. In the south sector only 36 percent of residents reported having routine dental visits.