Preventive health includes screening, vaccination, counseling, testing and routine visits intended to identify risks or disease early. In the United States, the available measures span national survey estimates, office visits, electronic health records and access surveys, so their definitions and populations must be kept separate.
Key Preventive Health Statistics
The following figures provide a compact overview of preventive-care uptake and access in the United States:
- In 2015, 8.5% of U.S. adults aged 35 years and older received all recommended high-priority appropriate clinical preventive services.
- In 2020, 5.3% of U.S. adults aged 35 years and older received all recommended high-priority appropriate clinical preventive services.
- The Healthy People 2030 target is 11.5% of U.S. adults aged 35 years and older receiving all recommended high-priority appropriate clinical preventive services.
- In 2023, 80.0% of U.S. women aged 50–74 were up to date with breast-cancer screening.
- In 2023, 75.4% of U.S. women aged 21–65 were up to date with cervical-cancer screening.
- In 2023, 67.4% of U.S. adults aged 45–75 were up to date with colorectal-cancer screening.
- In 2023, 37.1% of U.S. adults aged 45–49 were up to date with colorectal-cancer screening.
- In 2023, 82.7% of U.S. adults aged 65–75 were up to date with colorectal-cancer screening.
- During 2018–2022, annual new hypertension diagnoses were approximately 6% in the PCORnet adult patient population aged 21–79.
- During 2018–2022, annual new diabetes diagnoses were approximately 4% in the PCORnet adult patient population aged 21–79.
- Between 2018 and 2022, HbA1c testing in PCORnet increased from 18% to 22% among adults aged 21–79 receiving care.
- In 2019, preventive care was the major reason for 39.6% of office-based physician visits by U.S. children under 18.
- In 2019, an examination or screening was ordered or provided at 47.6% of all U.S. office-based physician visits.
- Between 1998 and 2017, the share of U.S. adults aged 18–64 unable to see a physician because of cost rose from 11.4% to 15.7%.
- Between 1998 and 2017, the adjusted share of U.S. adults aged 18–64 receiving guideline-recommended cholesterol tests increased by 16.8 percentage points.
- Between 1998 and 2017, the adjusted share of U.S. women receiving mammograms decreased by 6.7 percentage points.
Contents
- Preventive health uptake and national targets
- Preventive health screening statistics
- Preventive health data by age, race and residence
- Preventive health trends and pandemic-era service use
- Preventive care in primary-care and office visits
- Preventive health access, affordability and unmet need
Preventive Health Uptake and National Targets
The Healthy People composite measure counts adults receiving all recommended high-priority appropriate clinical preventive services. It is not the percentage receiving any one service, and it should not be read as a screening rate.
According to the Healthy People 2030 AHS-08 Data, 8.5% of U.S. adults aged 35 years and older met the composite measure in 2015, while 5.3% did so in 2020. The 2020 estimate is explicitly pandemic-period data.
| Measure | Population and period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Observed composite | U.S. adults aged 35+, 2015 | 8.5% |
| Observed composite | U.S. adults aged 35+, 2020 | 5.3% |
| Healthy People 2030 target | U.S. adults aged 35+, 2030 target | 11.5% |
The 11.5% Healthy People 2030 value is a policy target, not an observed prevalence. The composite measure also cannot be compared directly with an individual mammography, cervical-screening or colorectal-screening estimate.
Preventive Health Screening Statistics for Cancer and Chronic Disease
The CDC’s 2023 National Health Interview Survey estimates use USPSTF recommendation intervals and are weighted survey results. “Up to date” therefore means meeting the applicable interval in the survey definition, not necessarily receiving a test during 2023.
The CDC report, “Use of Cancer Screening Tests, United States, 2023”, reports these national screening measures:
| Screening measure | U.S. population | 2023 result |
|---|---|---|
| Breast cancer | Women aged 50–74 | 80.0% up to date |
| Cervical cancer | Women aged 21–65 | 75.4% up to date |
| Colorectal cancer | Adults aged 45–75 | 67.4% up to date |
| Colorectal cancer | Adults aged 50–75 | 73.4% up to date |
| Colorectal cancer | Adults aged 45–49 | 37.1% up to date |
The age-standardized estimates were 79.8% for breast screening among women aged 50–74, 75.8% for cervical screening among women aged 21–65 and 63.5% for colorectal screening among adults aged 45–75. The 2023 breast estimate for women aged 40–49 was 62.1% for a mammogram within two years; the age group was included in the estimate, while the USPSTF expanded its routine breast-screening recommendation to this range in 2024.
Colorectal screening also varies by modality. Among adults aged 50–75 in 2023, 61.3% reported a colonoscopy within 10 years and 9.3% reported FOBT/FIT use; these are component measures and exclude other screening methods.
The PCORnet report, “Preventive Service Usage and New Chronic Disease Diagnoses: Using PCORnet Data to Identify Emerging Trends, United States, 2018–2022”, provides a different view based on adults aged 21–79 receiving care in participating systems. Annual new diagnoses were approximately 6% for hypertension, 4%–5% for cholesterol conditions, 4% for diabetes, 1% for colonic adenomas and 0.1% for colorectal cancer during 2018–2022.
These are EHR-based diagnosis prevalences among patients receiving care, not population incidence rates.
Preventive Health Data by Age, Race and Residence
Subgroup estimates show why a national screening percentage needs a defined age range and population. The following figures are weighted 2023 NHIS estimates from the CDC cancer-screening report.
- Cervical-screening uptake was 63.7% among women aged 21–29 and 82.7% among women aged 30–39.
- Colorectal-screening uptake was 66.0% among men aged 50–75 and 74.7% among women aged 50–75.
- Cervical-screening uptake was 67.1% among Hispanic women aged 21–65 and 77.5% among non-Hispanic women in that age range.
- Colorectal-screening uptake was 53.8% among Hispanic adults aged 45–75 and 69.7% among non-Hispanic adults in that age range.
- Colorectal-screening uptake was 36.4% among adults aged 45–75 who had lived in the United States fewer than 10 years, compared with 57.3% among those who had lived in the country at least 10 years.
At older ages, colorectal-screening uptake was 82.7% among adults aged 65–75. These comparisons are descriptive subgroup estimates; residence duration is self-reported, and subgroup estimates may be suppressed when reliability is insufficient.
Preventive Health Trends and Pandemic-Era Service Use
PCORnet service-use data describe patients receiving care in participating health systems, not the entire U.S. population. Its measures are also not equivalent to guideline adherence because eligibility is not established for every patient in each denominator.
HbA1c testing increased from 18% in 2018 to 22% in 2022 among PCORnet adults aged 21–79. Lung CT use increased from 0.2% to 0.4%, while lipid testing was approximately 26% per year and wellness visits approximately 20% per year during 2018–2022.
Among PCORnet women aged 21–79 receiving care, mammograms occurred for approximately 18% each year and Pap or HPV tests for approximately 10% each year. Stool-based colorectal screening was approximately 2% per year among PCORnet patients, while colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy use declined from approximately 3% in 2018 to 2% in 2022.
For patients aged 45–49, stool-based screening increased from 0.6% in 2018 to 4.6% in 2022. The age-group trend reflects changing screening recommendations and remains an EHR service-use measure.
Health-debt estimates compare observed volume with modeled prepandemic expectations, rather than measuring population coverage. In PCORnet, 2020 lung CT volume was estimated at 113% of expected prepandemic volume; by 2022, Pap/HPV testing and colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy volume had each rebounded to 81% of expected volume.
Age-standardized NHIS comparisons show breast-screening use rising from 75.6% in 2021 to 79.8% in 2023. Cervical screening declined from 80.0% in 2019 to 75.8% in 2023, with 79.1% in 2021, while colorectal screening among adults aged 50–75 rose from 70.3% in 2021 to 71.6% in 2023.
Preventive Health Statistics in Primary-Care and Office Visits
The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2019 National Summary Tables measures office-based physician visits, not unique patients or completion of a full preventive-care schedule.
| Visit measure | Population | 2019 share of visits |
|---|---|---|
| Preventive care was the major reason | Children under 18 | 39.6% |
| Preventive care was the major reason | Adults aged 18–64 | 22.2% |
| Preventive care was the major reason | Adults aged 65+ | 13.3% |
| Examination or screening ordered/provided | All office-based visits | 47.6% |
| Examination or screening ordered/provided | Adults aged 18–64 | 48.5% |
| Examination or screening ordered/provided | Adults aged 65+ | 43.5% |
Health education or counseling was provided at 19.8% of visits by adults aged 18–64 and 18.0% of visits by adults aged 65 and older. Laboratory tests were ordered or provided at 27.3% and 22.9% of visits for those two adult age groups, respectively.
These categories are not mutually exclusive: multiple services can be reported at one visit, and not every laboratory test is preventive. A visit classified under another major reason can also include preventive services.
Preventive Health Access, Affordability and Unmet Need
The peer-reviewed JAMA Internal Medicine study, “Trends in Unmet Need for Physician and Preventive Services in the United States, 1998–2017”, uses BRFSS self-reports and adjusted regression estimates. Its reported changes are associations over time, not proof that insurance status caused each outcome.
Among U.S. adults aged 18–64, the uninsurance rate fell from 16.9% in 1998 to 14.8% in 2017. Despite that change, the unadjusted share unable to see a physician because of cost rose from 11.4% to 15.7%.
| Group, adults aged 18–64 | Unable to see a physician because of cost, 1998 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|
| All adults | 11.4% | 15.7% |
| Uninsured adults | 32.9% | 39.6% |
| Insured adults | 7.1% | 11.5% |
The study reported adjusted increases in cost-related inability to see a physician of 5.9 percentage points among adults with cardiovascular disease and 3.5 percentage points among adults with elevated cholesterol from 1998 to 2017. These are adjusted estimates, not causal treatment effects.
Over the same period, the adjusted share receiving guideline-recommended cholesterol tests increased by 16.8 percentage points and the adjusted share receiving flu shots increased by 13.2 percentage points among adults aged 18–64. The adjusted share of women receiving mammograms decreased by 6.7 percentage points; eligibility and the recommended interval define that measure.
Together, these findings show why preventive-health statistics should be read through their denominator and definition: a composite score, an up-to-date screening measure, an office-visit service, an EHR event and a self-reported unmet-need measure answer different questions.