Americans visiting physicians, dentists less

In 2010, working-age adults in the U.S. made an average of 3.9 visits to physicians, nurses, or other medical providers, down from 4.8 in 2001, according to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Among those with at least one such visit, the average number of visits also declined, from 6.4 to 5.4 during the period.

Respondents were much less likely to visit a dentist at least once in the last year than a medical provider: 59% compared with 73%.

According to the report, most Americans consider themselves to be quite healthy: 66% reported their health as being either "excellent" or "very good." Another 24% said their health was "good," while 8% described it as "fair" and 2% as "poor."

While adults with excellent health were less likely to visit a medical provider at least once than those with poor health (68% compared with 94%), the opposite was true for dental visits: 35% of those in excellent health visited the dentist twice during the year, compared with 12% in poor health.

The findings are from "Health Status, Health Insurance, and Medical Services Utilization: 2010," a periodic report that examines the relationship between the use of medical services, health status, health insurance coverage, and other demographic and economic characteristics.