How many circumcisions per year in america

From to declines occured in all four census regions. Non-circumcision has been the norm in the Western Region for more than a decade.

The Southern Region now is approaching parity. The circumcision rate gained slightly in Also, the NCHS pages have not been updated since Other population groups are excluded from their calculations. The data provided here includes all population groups. The decline of 7. The genital integrity rates percentage of boys leaving the hospital intact are presented below. Circumcision hit its highest level in , at which point the genital integrity rate was just 15 percent. The intact rate increased in all four census regions of the United States from to and the nationwide incidence of boys with intact genitals was The North Central Region rebounded to above 20 percent, and the Southern Region increased to above 40 percent.

The intact rate slipped back a bit between and The intact rate among newborn males in the U. Blacks have lagged behind other groups and generally have achieved the lowest rate of genital integrity since The NIS produces circumcision statistics. Statistical Brief 45 12 provides data on circumcision for the year The NIS uses data from 38 states. The overall rate of circumcision according to the NIS for is 56 percent prior to release from hospital.

This converts to a genital integrity rate of 44 percent. The genital integrity rates for the four census districts are as follows:. In , the U. Circumcision statistics are difficult to obtain because of the large number of locations in which circumcisions are performed in the United States. Different sources provide varying results. But in most cases, circumcision is performed by an obstetrician in a hospital.

Circumcision rates are thus reported by hospitals and may undercount circumcisions performed in other settings or on older children or adults. The highest circumcision rates in the U. But that number has fallen steadily for the past half-century, especially as immigration from countries where circumcision is not common has increased. In , the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, as reported by U. Circumcision rates also vary based on other factors.

Nationally, circumcision rates are higher in suburban and rural areas and lower in large metropolitan areas. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. National Center for Health Statistics.

Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Trends in Circumcision for Male Newborns in U. Hospitals: — Minus Related Pages. On This Page. Page last reviewed: November 6, Content source:. Data and Statistics. PDF image. Men without a foreskin do appear less likely to get penile cancer. But the disease is uncommon —affecting roughly one in , men in the US each year—and fairly treatable.

For a bit of perspective, women are times more likely to get breast cancer. And while it is true that three randomized trials in Africa found that circumcision more than halved the risk of men getting HIV , it is harder to justify a prophylactic procedure in a place with considerably less HIV risk.

In addition, the trials found that circumcision helped men who have sex with infected women. In America, however, HIV is transmitted primarily via nonsterile syringes or sex between men, and there is no evidence that a foreskin affects either mode. Johnson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan who has authored several reports on the subject.

A closer look at how this religious rite became a national practice reveals some uncomfortable truths about health care in the US. Apparently, all it takes to popularize an elective preventative surgery with questionable health benefits is a mix of perverse incentives, personal bias, and ignorance.

First, it helps to know a bit of history. Although religious practitioners have been snipping foreskins for thousands of years, the medical practice dates from the late 19 th century—a time when the causes of most diseases were poorly understood. Mystified by everything from epilepsy to madness, some physicians in both America and England began to suspect that the real trouble was phimosis, a condition when an overly tight foreskin hinders normal function.

By removing the foreskin, surgeons believed they could heal all sorts of maladies, from hernias to lunacy. Around the turn of the 20 th century, American epidemiologists were also trying to explain why Jews lived longer than other groups of people. Jews tended to have lower rates of infectious diseases, such as syphilis and tuberculosis, in part because they had little sexual contact with non-Jews.

But some scientists began to suspect their rude health was a product of circumcision. At the time, surgical interventions of all kinds were becoming more popular, owing to better anesthesia and greater concern over cleanliness, which reduced hospital contagion.