
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 15, 1993                   TAG: 9307150128
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

WOMEN'S CARE SUFFERS FROM HIGH COSTS, STUDY SHOWS

One-third of American women did not receive basic preventive health services during the past year, and one in seven failed to get treatment for an illness when needed - largely because of insurance gaps and high costs - according to a survey released Wednesday by the Commonwealth Fund.

The findings, based on interviews early this year with more than 2,500 women aged 18 and older "tell us that women face major barriers to adequate health care," said Karen Davis, executive vice president of the fund, which sponsors studies on health and social issues.

Nearly one-third of the women said they had suffered sexual or other abuse in childhood, compared with about one-quarter of 1,000 men questioned as a comparison group, according to the survey. The survey was conducted by Louis Harris and Associates for the fund's Commission on Women's Health.

Forty percent of women reported being severely depressed in the week before they were interviewed, compared with 26 percent of the male comparison group.

The study was "the first comprehensive national survey of American women age 18 and over about their health," according to Davis, Commonwealth Fund president Margaret Mahoney and Barnard College President Ellen Futter, who heads the commission.

They said it "shatters the stereotype of women as healthy and generally impervious to disease."

Although a slightly higher proportion of American women than men have some health insurance coverage, women often receive less care than men because many work part time or not at all. As a result, they have less to spend on health care and often are more dependent on public programs such as Medicaid, said Davis.

The survey found that 13 percent of women reported failure to receive the care they needed for an illness in the past year, compared with 9 percent of men. Half the time high costs were given as the reason; in one-quarter of cases, it was because the illness was not covered by insurance.

According to the findings, 44 percent of women over 50 had not received a mammogram to detect breast cancer during the previous year. More than one-third of all women "did not have any of these basic preventive services: a Pap smear, a clinical breast exam, or a complete physical," the study said.

Two-fifths of the survey subjects said they had changed doctors at some time, largely because of "communications problems."

Davis said women are failing to take adequate preventive care measures. For example, she noted that heart disease and lung cancer are the chief causes of death among women, and that osteoporosis is a leading crippler of older women. Yet 67 percent of the women surveyed were overweight, which predisposes them to heart disease. Only one-third exercised vigorously three or more times a week, compared with 47 percent of men.

In addition, one in four continued to smoke (increasing their risk of heart disease), and 70 percent do not take calcium supplements for osteoporosis prevention.

Thirty percent of women surveyed "report having suffered some type of abuse as a child; the effect seems to be lasting." Effects are reflected in higher rates of depression, suicidal thoughts and low self-esteem.

by CNB