Amanda Cori Daugherty RSS

I love long talks and debates. I enjoy music, food, cooking, public radio, board games, and coffee. I love [old] dresses, jewelry, farmer's markets, and cats.

I blog so that my family and friends have a better idea about what I'm thinking from day to day.

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trappedintime: Which country makes most trips to the doctor?The Japanese make most visits to the doctor of any rich country. Each person goes 13.8 times a year on average according to the OECD. The high rate could be explained in part by Japan’s high ratio of older people who require more care. Americans see a doctor less than four times a year, although the high number people without medical insurance may be a factor. Neighbouring Mexicans are the most doctor-shy. (via The Economist) I need to research a more thorough post, but I’d like to go back and compare visit frequency to patient care.  Where do these same countries fall on such a chart? What about overall human health index scores?  I’m not sure if I’m more apt to believe Americans avoid the doctor - due to lack of insurance, high cost of healthcare, or fear of what they will be told - or are simply healthy enough to avoid frequent visits. No, it’s definitely not that they are healthier.  In fact, the United States falls way behind most other industrialized countries (and other “non-industrialized” countries) in health index scores which take into consideration many aspects of health including mental health and social support as well as traditional health measures (rate of disease, infant mortality rate, etc).  From my understanding (I’ve been studying public health for some time now), the U.S. population, in general, avoid making visits to the doc mostly due to lack of health insurance, cost, little to no access, time (can we say limited number of sick days) and even distrust of the medical system in general.  Sad, but true.  Absolutely.  I’m sure that we are experiencing a crisis.   

trappedintime:

Which country makes most trips to the doctor?

The Japanese make most visits to the doctor of any rich country. Each person goes 13.8 times a year on average according to the OECD. The high rate could be explained in part by Japan’s high ratio of older people who require more care. Americans see a doctor less than four times a year, although the high number people without medical insurance may be a factor. Neighbouring Mexicans are the most doctor-shy. (via The Economist)

I need to research a more thorough post, but I’d like to go back and compare visit frequency to patient care.  Where do these same countries fall on such a chart? What about overall human health index scores?  I’m not sure if I’m more apt to believe Americans avoid the doctor - due to lack of insurance, high cost of healthcare, or fear of what they will be told - or are simply healthy enough to avoid frequent visits.

No, it’s definitely not that they are healthier.  In fact, the United States falls way behind most other industrialized countries (and other “non-industrialized” countries) in health index scores which take into consideration many aspects of health including mental health and social support as well as traditional health measures (rate of disease, infant mortality rate, etc).  From my understanding (I’ve been studying public health for some time now), the U.S. population, in general, avoid making visits to the doc mostly due to lack of health insurance, cost, little to no access, time (can we say limited number of sick days) and even distrust of the medical system in general.  Sad, but true.  Absolutely.  I’m sure that we are experiencing a crisis.