Preventive Services, 65+

...

Source:
...

Why do we measure preventive services?

Preventive care – routine check-ups, screenings, vaccinations, mental health assessments, and oral/vision care – is important for an individual’s health and the health of their community.(2) It is used for preventing illnesses and/or detecting illnesses early when treatments are most effective.(5) Yet each year millions of people do not receive the preventive care recommended by national experts for their age. Individuals over the age of 65 are one of the fastest grouping populations in the country, and they are at high risk of not receiving recommended preventative care.(1,3) It is estimated through preventive care tens of thousands of lives could be saved a year.(9)

How do we measure preventive services?

This metric includes adults, aged 65 years or older, who report being up to date on a core set of clinical preventive services.

Strengths of Metric

Limitations of Metric

This metric focuses on adults aged 65 or older, which is important as the proportion of the U.S. population in this age group continues to rise.

The metric does not take preventive services received by those younger than 65 into account.

The preventive services metric does not provide insight into why individuals are not receiving recommended care.

The metric is self-reported and depends on the accuracy of the person surveyed.

Calculation

Preventive services are calculated by the following formula for both men and women. These values are then averaged to achieve the total population estimate.

This metric was calculated by aggregating estimates from smaller geographies to the congressional district level. For more information, please refer to the Congressional District Health Dashboard Technical Document.

Data Source

Estimates for this metric are from one year modeled PLACES Project Data (formerly 500 Cities Project) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Years of Collection

Calculated by the Dashboard Team using data from 2020, 1 year modeled estimate.

References

Borsky A, EA MG, Al. E, D S, DM L, T N. Few Americans receive all high-priority, Appropriate Clinical Preventive Services: Health Affairs Journal. Health Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.1248. Published June 1, 2018. Accessed November 10, 2022.
An ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure, especially in the time of covid-19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2021/20_0627.htm. Published January 7, 2021. Accessed November 10, 2022.
Prevention measure definitions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/places/measure-definitions/prevention/index.html#clinical-preventive-services. Published December 8, 2020. Accessed November 10, 2022.
Shenson D, Anderson L, Slonim A, Benson W. Vaccinations and preventive screening services for older adults: opportunities and challenges in the USA. Perspectives in public health. 2012;132(4):165-170.
Vaidya V, Partha G, Howe J. Utilization of preventive care services and their effect on cardiovascular outcomes in the United States. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy. 2011;4:1-7.
Abdus S, Selden TM. Preventive services for adults: how have differences across subgroups changed over the past decade? Medical care. 2013;51(11):999-1007.
Holden CD, Chen J, Dagher RK. Preventive care utilization among the uninsured by race/ethnicity and income. Am J Prev Med. 2015;48(1):13-21.
Farley TA, Dalal MA, Mostashari F, Frieden TR. Deaths preventable in the U.S. by improvements in use of clinical preventive services. Am J Prev Med. 2010;38(6):600-609.
Clarke K. Preventive care saves lives. Campbell County Health. https://www.cchwyo.org/news/2017/november/preventive-care-saves-lives/#:~:text=Preventive%20care%20includes%20health%20services,is%20likely%20to%20work%20best. Published November 1, 2017. Accessed November 2022.

Last updated: February 20, 2024