The recession put a dent physician office visits across various ethnic groups, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine.
In the two years prior to the recession in 2008 and 2009, whites visited doctors 7.3 times a year. That declined slightly to 7 times a year during the recession. Black patient visits declined from 5.8 to 5.3 and for Hispanics from 4.5 to 4.1.
The decline matched previous research, which showed similar declines in hospital admissions and prescription-drug use during the economic downturn.
