From Vital and Health Statistics of the Nat[onal Center for Health Statlsttcs Number 73 � June 24, 1981 

PROPERTY
OFW


PUBLICATIONS 13FlMf-& 

Patient Profile, National Reporting System for Fa~~~lA~~~~WF 

Planning Services: United ‘States, 1978 -

by Jean E. Foster, formerly with the Division of Health Care Statistics 

The National Reporting System for Family data. Further discussion of the survey methodology 

Planning Services (NRSFPS) is a sample survey con- and the sampling variation associated with the staducted on a continuous basis by the Division of tistics, and the definitions of certain terms used in


Health Care Statistics, National Center for Health this report, are included in Technical Notes.


Statistics. The NRSFPS, begun in 1972 to collect


data on clinic-based visits for family planning Patient estimates
 services in the United States and some of its territo­


ries, encompasses medical family planning visits According to NRSFPS data, about 3,831,000


occurring in clinics. The clinics include those operated patients received medical family planning services in


by “public health departments, private organizations 1978 from family planning service sites in the United


such as affdiates of Planned Parenthood Federation States. Table 1 shows that 99.6 percent of patients


of America, Inc. or hospitals, and other sites that


ovide family planning services. Medical family Table 1.Number, percent distribution, and enrollment rates of family nning visits to private physicans’ offices are planning patients by selected characteristics: United States, 1978 

@ luded from the survey. 

data collection form used in the NRSFPS. Service characteristic in tiou -

sands 

distri- men t rata 

bution per 1,000’ 

sites that collected NRSFPS data through participation in a computerized record system generally 

used a locally developed form containing the CVR All patients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,831 100.0 18 

items. The 14 items on the CVR cover basic socio- Sex 

demographic information about the patient and 

include questions about family planning. In this 

survey, family planning patients are defined as 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

All female patients . . . . . . . . . . 

3,815 

*I7 

3,815 

99.6 77 

0.4 . . . 

100.0 77 

individuals who made a visit for medical family Age 

planning services related to contraception, infertility Under 15years . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 1.2 . . . 

treatment, or sterilization. Persons seeking only a 15-19 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,225 32.1 119 

pregnancy or venereal disease test are not counted as 20-24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,402 36.8 139 

The Clinic Visit Record (CVR) is the basic Selected Number Percent Enroll25-29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669 17.5 74 family planning patients, nor are persons interested 30-34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 7.4 35 

only in obtaining contraceptive supplies or counseling. 35-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 3.1 18 

Although the primary sampling unit in the 4044years . . . . . . . . .. m... 49 1.3 8 

45years And over . . . . . . . . . . . 27 0.7 . . . NRSFPS is the family planning visit, an unduplicated 

count of patients can be obtained by identi~ing Race 

1) new patients at the time of their first visit, and White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,616 68.6 61 

2) continuation and readmission patients at the time Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,118 29.3 181 

of their fust visit in the survey year. (Readmission 

patients are patients who last visited a family plan- Ethnicity 

ning service site at least one calendar year prior to Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 10.9 133 

78). Data based on patients, rather than visits, is Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,400 89.1 73 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 2.1 75 

erently limited for NRSFPS data items which 1 ~a=d on tie female civilian, noninstitutionalized POPulatiOn age 

@ ay change from one visit to another. Therefore, 15-44years. 

the reader should be cautious when interpreting the NOTE: Figuras may not add to totals due to rounding. 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service, Office of Health Research, Statistics, and Technology 
2 acklncedata 

in 1978 were women and only 0.4 percent were men. 

Since the estimated number of male patients is too 

small for reliable estimates based on detailed crosstabulations, this report focuses on female family 

phum.ing patients. 

Most female medical family planning patients 

are 20-24 years old; the enrollment rate peaks at 139 

per 1,000 women in that age interval. Teenagers 

account for 32.1 percent of all female patients and 

women 45 years and over represent only about 0.7 

percent. The median female patient age is 22.9 

years. 

Although there are proportionately more white 

than black female patients (68.6 percent and 29.3 

percent, respectively), the black enrollment rate is 

181 per 1,000 women age 15 to 44 years compared 

with the white enrollment rate of 61 per 1,000 

women age 15 to 44 years. Women of Hispanic origin 

comprise 10.9 percent of all female patients, with an 

enrollment rate of 133 per 1,000 women age 15 to 

44 years. Ethnicity is independent of racial classification and may include persons of all races. 

Patient status 

Table 2 shows the relatively large proportion 

(61.5 percent) of continuation and readmission 

patients among women in 1978, which indicates the 

extent of previous exposure to the family planning 

Table 2. Number and percent distribution of female family planning 

patients by patient status, according to selected characteristics: 

United States, 1978 

Patient status 

Selected All Total 

characteristic patients New Continu- Reation admit 

Percent distribution 

All female 

patients. . . . . . . . . 3,815 100.0 38.4 51.9 9.6 

Age 

Under 15 years . . . . . 44 100.0 81.8 18.2 -

15-19 yeara . . . . . . . 1,225 100.0 53.5 41.7 4.8 

20-24 years . . . . . . . 1,402 100.0 32.5 56.6 10.9 

25-29 years . . . . . . . 669 100.0 28.8 58.3 12.9 

30-34 years . . . . . . . 282 100.0 27.7 58.9 13.5 

35-39 years . . . . . . . 117 100.0 26.5 59.0 15.4 

40-44 years . . . . . . . 49 100.0 22.4 59.2 18.4 

45 years and over. . . . 27 100.0 ‘‘22.2 59.3 *18.5 

Race 

White . . . . . . . . . . . 2,616 100.0 42.3 48.7 9.0 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . 1,118 100.0 28.6 60.1 11.3 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . 81 100.0 50.0 42.5 7.5 

Ethnicity 

Hispanic ...,..... 415 100.0 43.1 46.7 10.1 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . 3,400 100.0 37.9 52.6 9.6 

NOTE: Figures may not add to totals due to rounding. 

program. As expected, continuation and readmissi 

female patients tend to be older than new patie 

The proportion of new patients is about 53.5 perce* 

for the 15-19 age group and drops to about 28.8 

percent for the 25-29 age group. The proportion of 

continuation patients levels off to about 59 percent 

beginning with women age 30-34. The median age for 

new female patients is 20.4 years, compared with 

23.0 years for continuation patients and 24.1 years 

for readmission patients. 

In 1978, a larger proportion of white female 

patients are new patients (42.3 percent) than among 

black female patients (28.6 percent). Conversely, 

continuation status is higher among black women 

(60. 1 percent) than among white women (48.7 

percent). There are proportionately more new patients ~ 

among the Hispanic than among the non-Hispanic 

female patient population. 

Female patient demographics 

The data in table 3 show that there are at least 

2 times as many white as black female patients in 

Table 3. Number of female family planning patients by age and percent 

distribution by selected characteristics, according to age: United 

States, 1978. 

Age 

Selected Ail 

characteristic ages Under 20 20-29 30 years 

years yeats and over 

Number in thousands 

All female patients . . . . . 3,815 1,269 2,071 475 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Race 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68.6 70.3 69.0 62.3 

black . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.3 28.0 28.8 35.2 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 1.7 2.3 2.7 

Ethnicity 

Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . 10.9 6.6 11.4 20.0 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89.1 93.3 88.6 80.2 

Education 

Less than 12 years . : . . . 39.5 61.2 25.3 42.9 

12 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . 38.2 30.7 42.7 38.5 

13 years or more . . . . . . 22.3 8.0 32.0 18.1 

Student status 

Student . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,6 55.6 18.4 8.8 

Nota student . . . . . . . . 70.4 44.3 81.7 90.9 

Public assistance income 

Receives public 

assistance . . . . . . . . . 

Does not receiva public 

. 14.7 14.1 14.7 16.4 0 

assistance. . . . . . . . . . 85.3 86.0 85.3 83.8 

NOTE: Figures may not add to totals due to rourlding. 
aclwncedata 3 

a

‘he two youngest age groups shown (under 20 yems 

age and 20-29 years of age). Also, a smaller prortion of teenage women in the youngest age group 

was reported as being of Hispanic origin or descent 

than were women in the two older age groups. 

The proportion of female family planning 

patients with less than a high school education (39.5 

percent) varied with age, with the lowest proportion 

in the 20-29 year age group. About three-quarters 

of women in the middle age group reported that they 

completed high school or had additional years of 

schooling. Public assistance income is one indicator 

of family income and relative economic status. Most 

patients are not part of families whose income 

includes some type of public assistance. The proportion ranged from 14.1 percent among women 

under 20 years of age to 16.4 percent among women 

30 years of age and over. 

Pregnancy history 

& 

@ 

Tables 4 and 5 present statistics on the pregnancy 

history of female patients by age and race, respectively. As expected, the proportion who have never 

had a pregnancy decreases sharply with age. A larger 

roportion of white women have never been pregnant 

black women. The same pattern is found for live 

hs: 59.8 percent of the white women and 39.7 

Table 4. Number of female family planning patients by age and percent 

distribution by pregnancy history, according to age: United States, 

1978 * 

Age 

Pregnancy Ali 

tr!story ages Under 20 20-29 30 years 

years years and over 

Number in thousands 

AH female patienta . . . . . 3,815 1,269 2,071 475 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Number of pregnancies 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.4 65.7 35.6 10.1 

One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.9 26.2 28.1 11.6 

Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2 6.0 19.8 20.2 

Three or more . . . . . . . . 16.4 2.1 15.6 58.3 

Number of live births 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53.9 78.3 48.1 13.3 

One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.8 18.1 25.8 14.3 

Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.4 3.1 17.4 23.6 

Three ormora . . . . . . . . 10.9 ‘0.4 8.7 48.6 

umber of fetal deaths 

77.4 84.8 75.0 68.2 

On~~IlllIll:IIllI 17.2 13.2 18.9 20.2 

Twoormore . . . . . . . . . 5.3 2.0 6.0 11.6 

NOTE: Figures may not add to totals due to rounding. 

TabIe 5. Number of female family planning patients by race and percent distribution by pregnancy history, according to race: United 

States, 1978 

Pregnancy history Total’ White Black 

Number in thousands 

All female patients . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,815 2,616 1,118 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Number of pregnancies 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.4 46.8 31.9 

One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.9 24.7 28.9 

Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2 14.1 17.9 

Three ormore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.4 14.3 21.2 

Number of live births 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53.9 59.8 39.7 

One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.8 18.7 29.2 

Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.4 12.2 16.4 

Threa ormore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.9 9.2 14.7 

Number of fetal deaths 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77.4 77.5 77.3 

One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.2 17.4 16.8 

Two or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 5.1 

1, “clude~ =11other recea not shown sewatew. 

NOTE: Figures may not add to totals due to rounding. 

percent of the black women reported they had 

never borne a live child. However, the proportion of 

patients with one or more fetal deaths is the same for 

women of both races–approximately 23 percent. 

Among teenage patients, 15.2 percent reported at 

least one fetal death, whereas in the over 30 age 

group this proportion doubled, primarily due to 

longer exposure time associated with increasing age’. 

The proportion of women who reported three 

or more pregnancies or live births is highest in the 

over 30 “age group. Approximately 58.3 percent of 

these patients reported three or more pregnancies 

compared with 15.6 percent of the patients 20-29 

years of age. Differences are also apparent by race, 

with black patients having the larger proportion of 

both three or more pregnancies and three or more 

live births (21.2 percent and 14.7 percent, respectively). 

Contraceptive use 

Tables 6 and 7 present statistics on the contraceptive method used prior to the visit and the contraceptive method adopted or continued at the end of 

the patient’s visit by age and race, respectively. 

These data refer to the fust visit for new patients and 

the f~st visit in 1978 for all other patients. Given this 

limitation, table 6 indicates that teenagers are over 

three times more likely than either of the two older 

5.8 
Table 6. Number of female family planning patients by age and percent distribution by contraceptive use, according to age: United 

States, 1978 

Age 

All Contraceptive use ages Under 20 20-29 30 years 

years yeats and over 

Number in thousands 

All female patients . . . . . . . 3,815 1,269 2,071 475 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Prior contraceptive 

method 

Pill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57.4 48.8 64.8 48.2 

IUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7 2.3 9.8 21.5 

Diaphragm . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 1.3 5.3 6.3 

Foam, jelly, orcream. . . . . . 3.4 2.4 3.4 5.9 

Natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5 *0.6 *0.5 *0.4 

Sterilization . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 *0.3 1.0 4.0 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6 4.3 3.1 4.0 

No method used regularly . . . 21.0 39.9 12.2 9.3 

Current contraceptive 

method 

Pill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.5 74.6 62.3 38.9 

IUD . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3 3.7 10.1 20.8 

Diaphragm . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4 4.2 9.0 9.3 

Foam, jelly, or cream. . . . . . 5.7 5.0 5.2 9.5 

Natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4 ‘0.2 ‘0.4 *1.1 

Sterilization . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 *0.2 1.0 4.8 

Relying on partner . . . . . . . 3.6 2.8 3.4 6.3 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8 *0.5 0.8 *1.5 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 8.7 7.8 8.2 

NOTE: Figures may not add to totals due to rounding. 

age groups to have not used a contraceptive method 

regularly prior to visiting the clinic. Accordingly, 54.5 

percent of the teenage patients reported they had 

never made a prior visit to a family planning clinic. 

There is no statistical difference between the proportion of white and black patients reporting no prior 

contraceptive method. 

Overall, 79.0 percent of all female patients reported that some method of contraception was used 

prior to their visit. Among contraceptors in all age 

and racial groups, the pill is the most prevalent 

method used regularly prior to the family planning 

visit. However, reported pill use varies considerably 

by age. It was the most common prior method used 

by women in the 20-29 age range. About 56.5 percent of the white patients and 59.8 percent of the 

black patients reported the pill as their prior contraceptive method. 

The contraceptive method adopted or continued 

after the visit, as mentioned above, represents only a 

minimal level of contraceptive services provided at 

service sites; method changes which may have occurred at return visits during the year are not represented 

in the statistics presented in this report. The proportion of patients reporting no method dropped from 

Table 7. Number of female family planning patients by race and p 

cent distribution by contraceptive use, according to race: Urn 

States, 1978 

Contraceptive use Total’ White Black 

Number in thousands 

All female patients . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,815 2,616 1,118 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ~.. . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Prior contraceptive 

method 

Pill 57.4 56.5 59.8 

IUD:::::::::::::::::::::: 8.7 7.8 10.7 

Diaphragm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 4.7 2.9 

Foam, jelly, orcream. . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 3.5 3.1 

Natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., 0.5 0.6 *0.2 

Sterilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 1.1 *1.4 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., 3.6 4.3 2.1 

No method used regularly . . . . . . . . . 21.0 21.5 19.9 

Current contraceptive 

method 

Pill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.5 63.2 64.7 

IUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3 8.5 11.1 

Diaphragm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4 8.6 4.9 

Foam, jelly rorcream. . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7 5.0 7.2 

Natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4 ‘0.4 ‘0.4 

Sterilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 1.0 1.6 

Relying on partner . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

1 ,ncl”de$ alj Othar races not shovm saparatew. 

NOTE: Figures may not add to totals due to rounding. 

2 1.@ercent before the visit to 8.2 percent after the 

visit; the comparable figures for teenage patients 

are 39.9 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively. The 

proportion of noncontraceptors did not differ significantly by race. 

Oral contraception is the method most commonly 

adopted or continued by all age and race groups; 63.5 

percent of all female family planning patients chose 

the pill. 

More women under 20 yearn of age (74.6 percent) 

than women 30 years of age and over (38.9 percent) 

opted to use the pill, whereas the proportions 

choosing the IUD, diaphragm, and other methods 

generally increases with age. With the exception of 

a higher proportion of white patients that adopted or 

continued use of the diaphragm, there were no 

statistically significant differences between the races 

in the choice of birth control methods. 

The three most effective methods–the pill, IUD, 

and sterilization-account for 74.0 percent of all 

female patients. The proportion of patients choos” 

or continuing these methods is 78.5 percent *

f 

women under 20 years of age, 73.4, percent for women 20-29 years of age, and 64.5 percent for women 30 years of age and over. 
a&medaa5 

ethnical Notes 

Sampling design 

The 1978 National Reporting System for Family 

Planning Services estimates are based on a stratKled 

two-stage sampling design. In the first stage, a probability sample of 1,195 (about 1 in 4, nationally) 

family planning service sites was selected from a 

stratified sampling frame developed in 1976. 

In the second stage of the sampling plan, family 

planning visits occurring at each sample site were 

systematically selected. The sampling rate assigned by 

NCHS to each sample site depended on the site’s 

reported visit volume and the State in which the site 

was located. Overall, there were 14 visit sampling rates 

used to determine the proportion of each site’s 

family planning visits needed for the survey; the visit 

sampling rates ranged from 1/1 to 1/30. The 1978 

National Reporting System for Family Planning 

Services sample for the United States encompassed 

138,129 female patient records. A report delineating 

the NRSFPS background, development, and evolution has been published.l 

stimation 6— The statistics provided by the NRSFPS for 1978

are derived by a complex-estimation procedure. The 

estimation proceaure used to produce essentially unbiased national estimates for the NRSFPS has two 

principal components–inflation by the reciprocal of 

the probability of sample selection and imputation 

for nonresponse. 

Sampling error 

The statistics presented in this report are based 

on a sample survey and therefore differ from those 

that would be obtained from a full-count (100 

percent) survey using the same data collection procedures and deftitions. 

The standard error is primarily a measure of the 

variability that occurs by chance because a sample 

rather than the entire universe is surveyed. While the 

standard error, as calculated for this report, reflects 

some of the random variation inherent in the measurement process, it does not measure any systematic error that is present in the NRSFPS data. The 

relative standard error of an estimate is obtained by 

dividing the standard error of the estimate by the 

stimate itself and is sometimes expressed as a perNational Center for Health Statistics: Background end development 

of the national reporting system for family planning services, by B. J. 

Haupt. Vital and Health Statistics, Series l–No. 13. DHEW Pub. No. 

(PHS) 78-1313. Public Health Service. Washington. U.S. Government 

Printing Office, API. 1978. 

centage of the estimate. The chances are about 0.68 

that the interval specified by the estimate plus or 

minus one standard error of the estimate contains 

the figure which would be obtained through a fullcount survey of the sampling frame. The chances are 

about 0.95 that the interval specified by the estimate 

plus or minus two standard errors of the estimate 

contains the figure which would be abtained through 

a full-count survey of the sampling frame. 

To derive standard errors that would be applicable to a wide variety of statistics and could be 

derived at moderate costs, several approximations 

were required. For the three basic age categories of 

patients presented in this report, estimates of totals 

and relative standard errors of totals are shown in 

table I. The standard error for estimated percentages 

of patients are shown in table II. 

Table 1. Number of female family planning patients and relative standard 

error, by age: United States, 1978 

Relative Number of 

standard patients in error in thousands 

percent 

Alleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,815 4.1 

Under 20 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,269 4.3 

20-29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,071 4.4 

30years And over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475 3.9 

Table 11. Approximate standard error of percent of female family 

planning patients, by age: United States, 1978 

Estimated pement of patients 

Age lor 5or 10or 200r 300r so 

99 95 90 80 70 

Standard error in percentage points 

All ages. . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9 0.9 

Under 20years . . . . . . . 0.3 0.7 1.0 1.3 1.5 1.6 

20-29 years . . . . . . . . . 0.3 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.3 

30 years and over . . . . . . 0.4 0.9 1.2 1.6 1.8 2.0 

Example of use of table: An estimate of 90 percent based on all teenage 

patienta has a standard error of 1.0 percent or a relative standard error 

of 1.1 percent (1.0 percent+ 90 percent). 

Nonsampling error 

While nonsampling error is present in most sample 

surveys, the NRSFPS was particularly subject to error 

associated with a gap between the survey’s universe 

and sampling frame. This gap existed because the 

sampling frame did not include sites that began providing services after the frame was, finalized in early 
6 advancedata 

1976. Other nonsampling error includes that due to 

service site nonresponse, item nonresponse, information incompletely or inaccurately recorded, and 

processing error. Through an evaluation study conducted during 1980, several problems associated with 

the collection of data for the NRSFPS were identified (i.e., adherence to NRSFPS definitions). While 

the study results are not directly applicable to the 

1978 NRSFPS results, they are indicative of the 

difficulties inherent in the 1978 NRSFPS data 

collection effort. 

Rounding 

Aggregate estimates of family planning visits in 

the tables are rounded to the nearest thousand. The 

percentages were computed based on rounded estimates; thus, the figures may not add to the totals. 

Definitions 

Family planning service site.–A family planning 

service site is the location where medical family 

planning services are provided on a regular basis 

under the supervision of a physician. Private physicians’ offices and group medical practices are not 

considered sites unless they receive support through 

a Department of Health and Human Services grant 

for the provision of family planning services. Military 

service sites are excluded from the survey. 

Family planning visit.–A family planning visit i. 

a visit to a family planning service site in which med 

cal services related to contraception, infertility trea !!0 

ment, or sterilization are provided. 

Family planning patient.-A family planning 

patient is an individual who has made one or more 

family planning visits. 

Medical services. –Medical services include Pap 

smears, pelvic exams, breast exams, blood pressure 

tests, pregnancy tests, venereal disease tests, sterilizations, infertility treatments, urinalyses and blood 

tests (unless included as part of another service), and 

other medical services. 

Related data . 

Data for the National Ambulatory Medical Care 

Survey come from reports from a sample of officebased physicians; data for the National Reporting 

System for Family Planning Services come from a 

sample of medical organizations that provide family 

planning services. These data systems use information 

from the providers of family planning services; 

however, the National Survey of Family Growth uses 

information from recipients of the services. Because -

of this difference and differences in collection procedures and definitions of terms, statistics on famil 

planning visits from the three data systems ma@

differ. 

Symbols 

. . . Data not available 

. . . Category not applicable 

Quantity zero 

0.0 Quantity more than O but less than 0.05 

*	 Figure does not meet standards of 

reliability or precision 
a Recent Issues of Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics 

0.72. Visits to Family Planning Service Sites, 1978 (In prep- No. 69. Office Visits for Preventive Care: National Ambulatory


aration) Medical Care Survey: United States, 1977-78 (Issued: April 1,


No. 71. Health Care Coverage Under Private Health Insurance, 1981)


Medicare, Medicaid, and Military or Veterans Administration No. 68. Stroke Survivors Among the Noninstitutionalized Pop-


Health Benefits: United States, 1978 (In preparation) ulation 20 Years of Age and Over: United States, 1977


No. 70. Utilization of Short-Stay Hospitals in Treatment of (Issued: May 13, 1981)


Mental Disorders (h preparation)