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Table 5 Frequency distributions (weighted percentages) of health-care and prescription-medication use, satisfaction with care and with providers, and unmet health-care needs, by country and pattern of health-care use in the past 12 months: Joint Canada/US Survey of Health, 2002–03*

From: A comparative analysis of chiropractic and general practitioner patients in North America: Findings from the joint Canada/United States survey of health, 2002–03

  

United States

Canada

Variable

Category

GP only (n = 3565)

GP+DC (n = 511)

DC only (n = 84)

GP only (n = 2434)

GP+DC (n = 397)

DC only (n = 51)

Hospitalization

1+ in past year

11.7

11.3

4.6

10.7

8.1

5.3

No. of prescriptions

1+ in past month

67.2

72.2

34.1

64.2

63.3

18.4

No. of different prescription medications

<3 in past 2 days

42.2

50.0

31.7

45.4

48.1

17.8

 

3–5 in past 2 days

17.5

17.9

1.8

14.6

11.0

0.7

 

6+ in past 2 days

7.2

4.3

0.6

4.1

3.4

0.0

Health insurance

Insured, past year

90.8

92.1

72.9

NA

NA

NA

Unmet needs

Any in past year

12.2

12.7

11.1

11.0

11.8

10.3

Regular doctor

Yes in past year

89.8

90.8

46.1

91.4

92.5

65.0

Health care quality (past 12 months)

Excellent

40.4

42.6

36.2

39.1

35.6

19.6

 

Good

45.7

43.2

51.5

45.9

47.2

54.5

 

Fair or poor

11.3

11.1

11.0

13.8

16.0

21.9

Health care satisfaction (past 12 months)

Very satisfied

52.0

53.2

36.8

43.4

43.1

27.2

 

Somewhat satisfied

35.5

34.9

41.9

42.7

40.4

42.8

 

Less than satisfied

9.7

8.6

20.0

12.3

14.7

26.0

Quality of MD care (past 12 months)

Excellent

56.7

58.4

71.5

59.7

52.5

47.8

 

Good

32.7

33.9

19.1

33.0

35.9

38.2

 

Fair or poor

7.1

5.0

7.8

5.8

10.9

14.0

Satisfaction of MD care (past 12 months)

Very satisfied

65.5

70.2

59.0

65.9

61.2

56.2

 

Somewhat satisfied

26.2

22.1

35.0

27.0

29.2

29.9

 

Less than satisfied

4.7

4.2

4.4

5.3

8.7

14.0

Chiropractic visits (past 12 months)

0

100

0

0

100

0

0

 

1

 

20.6

23.2

 

13.8

21.6

 

2–5

 

34.3

38.2

 

33.8

35.7

 

6–10

 

16.8

10.2

 

20.9

16.9

 

11–20

 

17.3

22.2

 

19.3

20.2

 

21–30

 

5.3

0

 

7.3

3.2

 

31+

 

5.8

6.2

 

4.8

2.5

 

Mean, median

 

8.36, 4

7.42, 3

 

9.01, 5

7.29, 3

General practitioner or family doctor visits (past 12 months)

0

0

0

100

0

0

100

 

1

30.0

26.3

 

27.9

22.6

 
 

2–5

53.7

58.6

 

52.8

56.7

 
 

6–10

9.6

9.7

 

9.8

10.2

 
 

11–20

5.3

3.1

 

8.0

9.2

 
 

21–30

0.8

1.3

 

0.8

1.2

 
 

31+

0.7

1.0

 

0.8

0.2

 
 

Mean, median

3.66, 2

3.73, 2

 

4.08, 2

4.21, 3

 

All health-care visits (past 12 months)

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

1

4.8

0

4.7

4.6

0

7.1

 

2–5

43.4

10.6

38.0

45.1

8.1

34.8

 

6–10

26.7

24.6

21.2

26.3

23.0

18.0

 

11–20

16.4

30.4

19.3

15.7

33.3

25.5

 

21–30

4.5

16.2

5.9

4.8

18.6

10.1

 

31+

4.2

18.3

10.8

3.4

17.0

4.6

 

Mean, median

9.02, 6

18.84, 15

11.56, 7

8.54, 6

19.04, 15

10.39, 6

  1. * Weighted percentages may not sum to 100 because of missing data or exclusion of certain categories; percentages weighted to account for age, sex, region (Canada only), and race/ethnicity (U.S. only); 3565, 511, and 84 represent 138,802,519, 20,060,412, and 3,453,164 adults, respectively, in the U.S.; 2434, 397, and 51 represent 16,555,719, 2,723,870, and 381,147 adults, respectively, in Canada.
  2. Most recent visit among respondents reporting at least one visit to a physician in the past 12 months.
  3. GP = general practitioner or family doctor; DC = Doctor of Chiropractic; NA = not applicable.