A large majority of Californians rate their own health as "good," "very good" or "excellent," according to a new report from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the country's largest population-based state health survey. The report, titled "Health of California's Adults, Adolescents and Children: Findings from CHIS 2003 and CHIS 2001," details that nearly 80 percent of adults, nearly 90 percent of adolescents and nearly 93 percent of children rate their own health favorably. However, a number of issues-such as lack of health insurance, asthma and obesity-continue to challenge the health care system.

"This report will help state and local health officials build upon our successes and target our future efforts to make a healthier life for all Californians," said Sandra Shewry, director of the California Department of Health Services, which helped fund the report.

The report includes new data from the CHIS 2003 survey on a variety of topics-health conditions and limitations, health behaviors, health insurance, and access to care, among many others-and highlights significant changes that occurred between 2001 and 2003. The report also details California's progress in achieving the Healthy People 2010 objectives, a set of national objectives created to encourage improvement in the nation's health.

The complete CHIS report can be viewed at www.chis.ucla.edu.

Some of the other key findings from the report:

. Most adult Californians (87 percent) had a "usual" source of medical care in 2003, a slight increase from 2001, but still short of the 96 percent recommended by the Healthy People 2010 initiative.
. The percentage of adults who reported that they did not have health insurance at the time of the survey (17 percent) remained consistent from 2001 to 2003. Among Asians, however, the uninsured rate dropped by 19 percent.
. In 2003, Latinos continued to have the highest uninsured rate (34 percent), followed by American Indian/Alaskan Natives (22 percent).
. Eleven percent of adults reported having 14 or more physically unhealthy days in the 30 days prior to the survey. An identical proportion reported 14 or more days of poor mental health.
. Between 2001 and 2003, there was a 9 percent increase in the number of adults age 18 and older who had been diagnosed with asthma at some point in their lives. The greatest increase was among those ages 25-39, whose rate grew by 17 percent in two years.
. More than half of California adults were overweight or obese in 2003, well above the Healthy People 2010 objective of 40 percent or less.
. The percentage of adults who had visited a dentist in the previous year decreased slightly in 2003 (from 69 percent in 2001 to 67.2 percent) but still exceeded the Healthy People 2010 objective of 56 percent. The percentage of adults with dental insurance decreased by 3 percent between 2001 and 2003, to 59 percent.
. More than three-fourths of women age 18 and older had heard of emergency contraception, but only 12 percent knew that it was available in California over-the-counter, without a prescription.
. There was a 47 percent decrease in the use of hormone-replacement therapy among women age 50 and older between 2001 and 2003. Research has linked such therapy to a number of health risks.

"The data show that even as we increase longevity and improve quality of life for the majority of Californians, there continues to be a significant number of Californians who are not benefiting from the gains we have made," said Sue Holtby, one of the lead authors of the report and a senior research scientist with the Public Health Institute.

Since it was first conducted in 2001, the California Health Interview Survey has been an essential tool for policy-makers, researchers and health advocates at every level needing a detailed snapshot of the complex health needs of California's diverse population. The survey is a collaborative project of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the California Department of Health Services and the Public Health Institute.

Funding for CHIS 2003 was provided by the State of California, the California Department of Health Services, the California Endowment, the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the California Office of the Patient Advocate, Kaiser Permanente, the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency and the L.A. Care Health Plan.

The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research was established in 1994 and is one of the nation's leading health policy research centers. It is also the premier source of key health policy information for California. The center is based in the UCLA School of Public Health and is affiliated with the UCLA School of Public Affairs.

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