Preventive healthcare statistics show how often people receive screening, vaccination, monitoring, and routine services before problems become more serious. Recent U.S. data show screening rates near three-quarters for several major cancers, much lower completion of combined adult vaccination recommendations, widespread hypertension, and substantial differences by age, insurance, income, and access to usual care.
Contents
- Cancer screening uptake
- Adult vaccination coverage
- Blood pressure detection and control
- Cardiovascular risk-factor patterns
- Preventive dental visits
- Access gaps in preventive services
Cancer screening uptake
The CDC’s Up-to-Date Breast, Cervical, and Colorectal Cancer Screening Test Use in the United States, 2021 reports screening among age groups for whom these services are commonly measured. In 2021, 75.7% of U.S. women aged 50–74 were up to date with breast cancer screening. Among women aged 21–65, 75.2% were up to date with cervical cancer screening. For adults aged 50–75, 72.2% were up to date with colorectal cancer screening. (CDC, 2021)
The colorectal total includes several testing approaches. Colonoscopy was up to date for 63.1% of adults aged 50–75. The corresponding figures were 10.1% for FOBT or FIT testing, 8.3% for FIT-DNA testing, and 15.5% for any blood-stool colorectal test. These categories describe reported screening status by test type; they should not be added together because people may be represented in more than one testing category. (CDC, 2021)
Age-standardized comparisons give a mixed picture between 2019 and 2021:
| Screening measure | 2019 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Breast screening, women aged 50–74 | 76.2% | 75.6% |
| Cervical screening, women aged 21–65 | 76.8% | 75.5% |
| Colonoscopy, adults aged 50–75 | 62.4% | 63.1% |
The breast and cervical measures were slightly lower in 2021 than in 2019, while age-standardized colonoscopy uptake was slightly higher. The figures are estimates for the stated U.S. populations and periods, rather than a measure of whether every individual screening decision was medically appropriate. (CDC, 2021)
Adult vaccination coverage
The CDC’s Vaccination Coverage among Adults in the United States, National Health Interview Survey, 2022 reports a composite measure of receiving all age-appropriate vaccines. In 2022, 22.8% of U.S. adults aged 19 and older met that composite measure. Coverage was 14.7% among adults aged 50–64 and 26.2% among those aged 65 and older. By reported race and ethnicity, composite coverage was 12.1% among Black adults and 17.0% among Hispanic adults aged 19 and older. (CDC, 2022)
Individual vaccine measures were higher or lower depending on the vaccine and eligible group. Pneumococcal vaccination coverage was 23.0% among adults aged 19–64 at increased risk. Within that group, coverage was 24.0% among White adults and 19.5% among Hispanic adults. Among adults aged 65 and older, pneumococcal coverage was 64.0%.
Herpes-zoster vaccination coverage was 34.4% among adults with an indication for vaccination. Among adults aged 50 and older, coverage with at least two recombinant zoster vaccine doses rose from 1.1% in 2018 to 18.1% in 2022. This is a historical change in the reported measure, not a forecast of future coverage. (CDC, 2022)
In 2022, 59.2% of adults aged 19 and older reported a tetanus-containing vaccination in the previous 10 years. The age-specific figures were 59.4% among adults aged 19–49, 61.2% among those aged 50–64, and 56.7% among those aged 65 and older. Tdap vaccination coverage was 28.6% among adults aged 19 and older. These measures use different eligibility or recall definitions, so they are not interchangeable with the composite age-appropriate measure. (CDC, 2022)
Blood pressure detection and control
The CDC National Center for Health Statistics reported that 47.7% of U.S. adults aged 18 and older had hypertension during August 2021–August 2023. Prevalence was 50.8% among men and 44.6% among women. It increased sharply across the reported age groups: 23.4% among adults aged 18–39, 52.5% among those aged 40–59, and 71.6% among those aged 60 and older. (NCHS, August 2021–August 2023)
Detection was incomplete. Among U.S. adults with hypertension, 59.2% were aware of their condition during the same period. Awareness was 27.2% among adults aged 18–39 with hypertension, 56.7% among those aged 40–59, and 73.7% among those aged 60 and older. The age pattern means that younger adults with hypertension were much less likely to report awareness than older adults in the measured population. (NCHS, August 2021–August 2023)
Control was lower still: only 20.7% of U.S. adults with hypertension had blood pressure below 130/80 mm Hg during August 2021–August 2023. The statistic describes the measured threshold and period; it does not establish why an individual’s blood pressure was above or below that level. (NCHS, August 2021–August 2023)
Cardiovascular risk-factor patterns
The CDC’s Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Adults measured four cardiovascular risk factors among U.S. adults aged 20 and older during August 2021–August 2023. In that period, 36.4% had none of the four measured risk factors and 34.9% had one. These categories summarize the number of measured factors; they do not represent a complete assessment of every cardiovascular risk.
The share with none of the four factors was 34.9% among men and 37.8% among women. Age differences were larger: 53.7% of adults aged 20–39 had none, compared with 29.6% of adults aged 40–59 and 24.7% of adults aged 60 and older. (NCHS, August 2021–August 2023)
Over a longer comparison, the age-adjusted share of U.S. adults with two or more measured cardiovascular risk factors increased from 23.7% in 2013–2014 to 28.1% during August 2021–August 2023. Because the comparison uses different time periods and an age-adjusted measure, it should be read as a population trend estimate rather than a prediction for an individual. (NCHS, 2013–2014 and August 2021–August 2023)
Preventive dental visits
In the CDC’s Dental Care Among Adults Age 65 and Older: United States, 2022, 63.7% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older had a dental visit in the previous 12 months. The proportion was 62.3% among men and 64.9% among women. By age, 65.4% of adults aged 65–74, 63.6% of those aged 75–84, and 53.3% of those aged 85 and older reported a previous-year visit. (NCHS, 2022)
Reported visits also varied across racial and ethnic groups. The previous-year rate was 68.1% among White non-Hispanic adults aged 65 and older, 51.8% among Asian non-Hispanic adults, and 53.4% among Black non-Hispanic adults. These are population estimates for 2022 and do not explain the reasons for the observed differences. (NCHS, 2022)
Economic and educational differences were especially wide. A previous-year dental visit was reported by 35.3% of adults aged 65 and older below 100% of the federal poverty level, compared with 80.5% above 400% of that level. The rate was 33.3% among adults without a high-school diploma or GED. Dental coverage was associated with a 69.6% visit rate, compared with 56.4% among adults without coverage. The coverage comparison is an association, not proof that coverage alone caused the difference. (NCHS, 2022)
Access gaps in preventive services
Access to a usual source of care was strongly associated with cancer screening uptake in 2021. Among U.S. women aged 50–74 without a usual source of care, 44.1% were up to date with breast screening, compared with 78.6% among women with a usual source. For women aged 21–65, cervical screening was up to date for 61.1% without a usual source and 78.3% with one. (CDC, 2021)
Insurance differences were also substantial among insured or uninsured U.S. adults younger than 65. Breast-screening uptake was 80.1% with private insurance versus 42.3% when uninsured. Cervical-screening uptake was 79.8% with private insurance versus 56.6% when uninsured. These comparisons describe screening status by insurance category in 2021; they do not identify a single cause for the gap. (CDC, 2021)
The reported association with wellness checks was particularly large: breast-screening uptake was 78.1% among women who had a wellness check within three years, compared with 13.8% among those without one in 2021. Together with the usual-source-of-care figures, this measure places routine contact with the healthcare system alongside coverage as an important marker of preventive-service access. (CDC, 2021)