Poll: Women skimping on family healthcare

RED BANK, N.J., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Nearly half of U.S. women failed to seek medical care -- skimping on doctor visits, procedures and medication -- in 2007, a survey of women indicates.

The Harris Interactive poll released Tuesday by the National Women's Health Resource Center, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, also said since women usually take charge of household health matters -- families may be suffering from the lack of healthcare.

More than 40 percent of the 754 adult women polled said their health had declined in the past year, with most citing stress and weight gain as the cause, HealthDay reported.

Beth Battaglino Cahill, executive director of the center, in Red Bank, N.J., says some of the findings aren't surprising.

"More and more women are feeling the impact of stress," Cahill says in a statement. "We know stress affects women's overall health. It can lead to weight gain and lead them to eat too much.

Fifty-eight percent of Hispanic women reporting they skipped healthcare, compared to 43 percent of white women and 42 percent of black women, the survey found.