Almost half of U.S. adults have a chronic health condition

Forty-five percent of adults in the United States have at least one chronic health condition, including diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

Key findings from a report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) at CDC:

• Forty-five percent of adults had at least one of three diagnosed or undiagnosed chronic conditions—hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, or diabetes; one in eight adults (13%) had two of these conditions; and 3% of adults had all three chronic conditions.
• Nearly one in seven U.S. adults (15%) had one or more of these conditions undiagnosed.
• Non-Hispanic black persons were more likely than non-Hispanic white and Mexican-American persons to have at least one of the three conditions (diagnosed or undiagnosed).
• Non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white persons were more likely than Mexican-American persons to have both diagnosed or undiagnosed hypertension and hyper-cholesterolemia.
• Non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American persons were more likely than non-Hispanic white persons to have both diagnosed or undiagnosed hypertension and diabetes.

 (Sources: CDC, NCHS Data Brief, http://cdc.gov, April 2010)