NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2013
Contact: Lulu Francois (215.825.8202 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Men were more likely to be in poor health than women in 2012
PHILADELPHIA – As June marks Men's Health Month, the National Institutes of Health confirm that men are less likely to get medical care than are women, and they are more likely to have unhealthy behaviors like smoking and excessive drinking.* In fact, in the United States, life expectancy among men is consistently lower than among women. The PHMC Center for Data Innovation and the Community Health Data Base (CHDB) used data from the 2012 Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) Household Health Survey to highlight some of the difficulties faced by men aged 18 or older in our region.
Health Care
Approximately 174,900 men in SEPA (15.1%) have no public or private health insurance. Young men are less likely to be insured, with 22.0% of men ages 18–39 in SEPA uninsured, compared with 10.5% of men ages 40–49, 9.2% of men ages 50–59 and 6.9% of men ages 60–64. Additionally, men are less likely to be insured than women (one in ten SEPA women are uninsured) and may face special barriers to health care because of this.
Nearly one in five men (17.9%) did not see a doctor in the past year, compared with one in 10 women (9.8%). More than one in 10 men in SEPA (11.6%)—and 16.4% in Philadelphia—did not fill a prescription because of the cost during the past year, and 12.5% (16.7% in Philadelphia) did not seek health care when they were sick due to the cost.
Men who do not receive routine health care miss important screenings. About 194,100 men in SEPA (13.6%) have not had a blood pressure reading in the past year, and half of SEPA men aged 45 or older (54.6%) have not had a prostate exam in the past year.
Approximately 217,000 men in SEPA (15.1%) describe their health as fair or poor. Many of these men have chronic health conditions:
• Three in 10 men in SEPA (31.0%) have been diagnosed with high blood pressure.
• One in five men in SEPA (20.5%) have been diagnosed with arthritis.
• Approximately 188,300 men in SEPA (13.1%) have been diagnosed with diabetes, and an equal number have been diagnosed with asthma.
Health Behaviors
More than two-thirds of men in our region (67.2%) weigh more than they should, and a quarter of men (25.5%) are classified as obese based on their Body Mass Index. This represents about 955,500 men in our region whose health might be improved by decreasing their body weight.
More than four in 10 men aged 18 or older in SEPA (42.5%) exercise on three or fewer days each week. This represents approximately 611,000 men who might improve their health by increasing their physical activity. One in 10 SEPA men (10.7%) indicate that they never exercise.
One in five SEPA men (20.8%) smoke cigarettes, representing approximately 298,600 men. This percentage is much higher in Philadelphia, where 27.5% of men smoke, compared with 15.6% in Chester County, 15.8% in Montgomery County, 17.2% in Bucks County and 19.6% in Delaware County. More than four in 10 men living in poverty (44.5%) smoke cigarettes. More than half of men in SEPA who smoke (53.0%) tried to quit during the past year. In addition, 7.9% of men in our region (approximately 113,600) use other tobacco products such as cigars or chewing tobacco.
The SEPA Household Health Survey is administered by telephone in more than 10,000 households in the SEPA region, including Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties. Every two years, this survey collects key health information on SEPA residents to support health programs across the five-county area.
For more information about men's health or the SEPA Household Health Survey, contact Rose Malinowski Weingartner at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
*http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/menshealth.html
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About PHMC Center for Data Innovation
PHMC Center for Data Innovation offers full-service research capabilities focused on improving community health in the Delaware Valley. Using refined data collection technologies and tools to improve the accessibility and timeliness of data, PHMC Center for Data Innovation works towards improving decision making, planning more effective programs, innovation and measuring community impact. The Center includes the Community Health Data Base and other research initiatives at PHMC. For more information about PHMC Center for Data Innovation, contact Francine Axler at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.phmc.org.
About PHMC
Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities. PHMC uses best practices to improve community health through direct service, partnership, innovation, policy, research, technical assistance and a prepared workforce. PHMC has served the region since 1972. For more information on PHMC, visit www.phmc.org.
