Princeton, N.J (September 13, 2004) - Consumer Health Sciences (CHS), Grey Healthcare Group's consumer healthcare research company, has released the 2004 edition of its annual National Health and Wellness Survey. The survey provides a richly detailed view of people's health across four countries: the USA, Great Britain, France, and Germany. In gathering over 4,000 data variables on each of 64,000 healthcare consumers, CHS has created one of the most comprehensive databases of people's health-related attitudes, beliefs, history, and habits ever compiled. Pharmaceutical manufacturers, for the purpose of understanding their customers, study detailed cross-tabulations of the variables by therapeutic category. However, at the national level, the database reveals some surprising general facts on each country's population. For instance in the United States:

• 5 percent of the adult population is classified as obese
• 57 million Americans have been diagnosed with hypertension
• 62 percent of adults have at least two self-reported medical condition.

Now in its seventh year in the United States and its fifth in Europe, the National Health and Wellness Survey is also a unique indicator of trends in consumer thinking and behavior with respect to health. For instance:

• The number of Americans diagnosed with hypertension has increased 46 percent since 1998
• The percentage of hypertension patients who also suffer from at least two other conditions has stayed the same since 1998 (89-90%)

"Of course, the real value of the data comes from drilling into the microscopic detail provided at the product level," explained Jane A. Donohue, chief executive officer of CHS. "Our clients want to know as much as they can about patients' conditions, lifestyles, and mindsets. For that reason, we increase the scope of the survey each year." This year, the survey has captured for the first time, details on:

• Prescription purchase channel (pharmacy, mail-order, Internet)
• Work productivity
• Smoking cessation
• Symptoms related to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Over-Active Bladder, and Osteoporosis
• Diagnoses of eczema, dermatitis, and insomnia

The size of the sample has also grown substantially. It is up 21 percent overall (from 53,000 respondents in 2003 to 64,000 in 2004) and 41 percent in Europe (from 17,000 to 24,000). Respondents represent both undiagnosed/untreated people as well as diagnosed/treated sufferers of over 60 diseases.

The survey was fielded in the spring of 2004 via the Internet. All data are self-reported, projected to national estimates, and benchmarked against other national health databases. The survey's information categories include: attitudes and beliefs toward health and medical care, health history and habits, health insurance, health economics, drug use and satisfaction (Rx and OTC), healthcare information sources, quality of life, work productivity, prescription purchase venue, DTC advertising impact, and lifestyles.

About Consumer Health Services
Consumer Health Sciences collects and analyzes the attitudes, opinions, behaviors, quality of life measures, and demographics of consumers/patients internationally-with an emphasis on their healthcare habits and drug consumption and satisfaction. Founded in 1996, CHS is the leading provider of such information and helps pharmaceutical manufacturers understand and incorporate consumer/patient attitudes and behaviors into their strategic thinking and marketing planning. The company's services include: customized research reports drawn from its warehouse of information, primary research, and research-based consulting such as performing advanced analytics and publishing posters, manuscripts, and educational material.

CHS is wholly owned by Grey Healthcare Group and can be visited at www.CHSInternational.com.