How much time is required to wash your hands properly?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20 seconds is the amount of time required to wash your hands properly.

Some viruses and bacteria can live two hours or longer on surfaces such as escalator handles, doorknobs and restaurant tables. You can become ill when you touch dirty surfaces and then touch your own eyes, nose or mouth. Washing your hands is at the top of the list of things you can do to avoid getting sick or spreading illness and infection to the people around you.

To wash your hands properly, CDC recommends using soap and clean, running water — preferably warm water if it’s available. Rub your hands together for about 20 seconds, working the soap into a rich lather, and scrub all the surfaces of your hands, including the backs of your hands and between your fingers. Rinse thoroughly and then dry your hands with a clean paper towel, using the same towel to turn off the faucet.

When soap and water are not available, CDC recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Apply the gel into the palm of one of your hands and rub it over all the surfaces of your hands until it dries.

Remember: Handwashing is a healthy habit that should be practiced throughout life.

U.S. adults spend an average of 4.5 days in bed because of illness or injury, according to a survey conducted in 2007 by the National Center for Health Statistics.

For the survey, adults ages 18 and older were asked how many days an illness or injury had kept them in bed during the preceding 12 months, including overnight stays as a patient in a hospital. The fewest bed days were reported by 18 to 44-year-olds, who spent an average of 3.2 days in bed during the 12 months preceding the survey. Adults between the ages of 45 and 64 reported spending an average of 5.7 days in bed because of an illness or injury during the 12-month period leading up to the survey, while respondents between the ages of 65 and 74 spent only 5.2 days in bed. The greatest number of days spent in bed due to illness or injury were reported by respondents 75 and older, who spent slightly more than seven days in bed because of an injury or illness.

The data are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population.

For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_240.pdf.

June/July 2009

What is the most common medical condition for which U.S. women seek treatment?

High blood pressure is the most common condition for which women in the United States seek treatment. In 2006, approximately 25 million U.S. women, most of them older than 45, were treated for high blood pressure.

The data — from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s News and Numbers — includes treatment in doctors’ offices and hospital outpatient clinics, emergency rooms, hospitals and by home health care providers.

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure and kidney disease. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a diet high in sodium — or salt — increases the risk for higher blood pressure. Healthy blood pressure can be maintained through lifestyle changes that include maintaining a healthy weight, engaging in moderate physical activity on most days of the week, eating healthy foods that are low in salt, not smoking and taking prescribed medications as directed. People who drink alcoholic beverages should do so in moderation.

The statistical analysis — based on data from AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey— found that the other most common diseases for which women sought treatment in 2006 by age group included hyperlipidemia, or fat build up in the blood, for which 7.1 million women age 65 and older sought treatment; osteoarthritis, for which 5.9 million women sought treatment; heart disease, for which 5.7 million women sought treatment; and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, which brought 5.5 million to health facilities for medical treatment.

May 2009

What is the most costly medical condition in U.S. children?

Mental disorders are the most costly medical condition in U.S. children. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s News and Numbers, treating mental disorders, such as depression, in children cost $8.9 billion in 2006.

Second on the list of the most costly medical conditions in children was asthma, which cost $8 billion in 2006, followed by trauma-related disorders — including fractures, sprains, burns and other physical injuries from accidents or violence — which ran up a bill of $6.1 billion.

The fourth most costly condition, acute bronchitis — inflammation of the airways of the lungs that causes shortness of breath and wheezing — came with a price tag of about $3.1 billion. Fifth on the list — acute infectious diseases such as viral and bacterial infections — cost $2.9 billion.

A total of $98.8 billion was spent to treat all medical problems in children younger than 18 in 2006.

The data are from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. For more information, visit http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/Pub_ProdResults_Details.jsp?pt=Statistical%20Brief&opt=2&id=903.

April 2009

What percentage of Americans have a high enough health literacy level to manage their health?

Only 12 percent of U.S. adults have the health litreacy skills to manage their own health proficiently, according to the U.S Agency for Healthcare Research.

Health literacy describes the ability to obtain an use information to make appropriate health care decisions, such as weighing the risks and benefits of treatment or calculating insurance payments.

"A person with poor health literacy may not get good results from their health care and increase the risk of medical errors," according to a May 2008 statement from AHRQ's News and Numbers.

A 2003 survey found that 53 percent of adult have intermediate health literacy skills, such as being able to read a prescription label; 22 percent had basic skills, such as being able to read a pamphlet; and 14 percent has below basic level skills, meaning they could only accomplish simple tasks, such as identifying what is okay to drink before a test.

The AHRQ findings were based on data from  the 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report, which examines disparities in access to care.

March 2009

What percentage of senior U.S. households spend more than 15 percent of their income on health?

A full 78 percent of all senior households in the United States are finding it difficult to cover the essential costs needed to sustain them for the remainder of their lives, the study found, with single, black and Hispanic households the most likely groups of seniors to be financially strapped. More than half of all senior households, or 54 percent, lack sufficient funds to meet median projected expenses based on their current financial net worth, projected Social Security and pension incomes.

According to the study, 45 percent of senior households spend nearly a third of their income on housing, and 31 percent either rent or have no home equity to fall back on. Additionally, one out of three senior households in the United States has no money whatsoever left over after meeting essential expenses.

The data are from the Senior Economic Security Index, a research project developed by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University in collaboration with Demos, a national public policy and research organization.