National Health
Interview Survey (NHIS) show that the number of American homes with
only wireless telephones grew once again. More than one out of every
six American homes (17.5%) had only wireless telephones during the
first half of 2008, an increase of 1.7 percentage points since the
second half of 2007.
More than one out of every eight
American homes (13.3%) received all or almost all calls on wireless
telephones even when they had a landline telephone in the home.
The report
shows interesting facts. Men, younger people, Hispanics, and poor people are more likely to be wireless only. Wireless only household were more likely to drink alcohol often, report excellent health, be without medical insurance, and to have been tested for HIV AIDS.
Demographic Differences
- Nearly
two-thirds of all adults living only with unrelated adult roommates
(63.1%) were in households with only wireless telephones. This is the
highest prevalence rate among the population subgroups examined. - One-third
of adults renting their home (33.6%) had only wireless telephones.
Adults renting their home were more likely than adults owning their
home (9.0%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones. - More
than one in three adults aged 25-29 years (35.7%) lived in households
with only wireless telephones. Approximately 31% of adults aged 18-24
years lived in households with only wireless telephones. - As
age increased from 30 years, the percentage of adults living in
households with only wireless telephones decreased: 19.1% for adults
aged 30-44 years; 9.2% for adults aged 45-64 years; and 2.8% for adults
aged 65 years and over. - Men (18.0%) were more likely than women (14.4%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
- Adults
living in poverty (26.0%) and adults living near poverty (22.6%) were
more likely than higher income adults (14.2%) to be living in
households with only wireless telephones. - Adults living in
the South (19.6%) and Midwest (17.8%) were more likely than adults
living in the Northeast (9.8%) or West (13.7%) to be living in
households with only wireless telephones. - Non-Hispanic
white adults (14.6%) were less likely than Hispanic adults (21.6%) or
non-Hispanic black adults (18.5%) to be living in households with only
wireless telephones.
Wireless-Mostly Households
Among households with both landline and cellular telephones, 22.7%
received all or almost all calls on the cellular telephones, based on
data for the period January through June 2008. These wireless-mostly
households make up 13.3% of all households. These estimates are
statistically similar to the estimates from the last 6 months of 2007.
- Adults with college degrees (17.1%) were more likely
to be living in wireless-mostly households than were high school
graduates (12.5%) or adults with less education (10.0%). - Adults
living with children (18.1%) were more likely than adults living alone
(10.1%) or with only adult relatives (12.8%) to be living in
wireless-mostly households. - Adults living in poverty
(10.8%) and adults living near poverty (10.3%) were less likely than
higher income adults (17.1%) to be living in wireless-mostly households. - Adults
living in metropolitan areas (15.0%) were more likely to be living in
wireless-mostly households than were adults living in more rural areas
(12.1%).
Selected Health Measures by Household Telephone
Status
- The prevalence of binge drinking (i.e., having five
or more alcoholic drinks in 1 day during the past year) among
wireless-only adults (37.7%) was twice as high as the prevalence among
adults living in landline households (17.2%). Wireless-only adults were
also more likely to be current smokers. - Compared with
adults living in landline households, wireless-only adults were more
likely to report that their health status was excellent or very good,
they were more likely to engage in regular leisure-time physical
activity, and they were less likely to have ever been diagnosed with
diabetes. - The percentage without health insurance coverage
at the time of the interview among wireless-only adults (28.3%) was
twice as high as the percentage among adults living in landline
households (13.6%). - Compared with adults living in landline
households, wireless-only adults were more likely to have experienced
financial barriers to obtaining needed health care, and they were less
likely to have a usual place to go for medical care. Wireless-only
adults were also less likely to have received an influenza vaccination
during the previous year. - Wireless-only adults (49.3%) were
more likely than adults living in landline households (35.8%) to have
ever been tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Conclusions
The potential for bias due to undercoverage remains a real and
growing threat to surveys conducted only on landline telephones.
Citation:
Blumberg SJ, Luke JV. Wireless substi-tution: Early release of estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, January-June 2008. National Center for Health Statistics. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm. December 17, 2008.