Chronically ill U.S. residents are more likely to forgo medical care on account of high costs or experience medical errors than inhabitants of other countries, researchers said on Thursday.

A study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund compared the experiences of 7,500 adults in 8 nations regarding the U.S. health care system. The patients, who were from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Britain and the United States, had at least one of seven diseases: lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure cancer, arthritis and depression.

The findings, which appeared online on Thursday in the Commonwealth Fund journal Health Affairs, revealed that participants from Germany had the fewest complaints, while those from the U.S. reported plenty.

"This is a time of economic crisis around the world, but also a time of crisis in the U.S. health-care system," Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, said in a teleconference. "The survey findings provide a basis for action toward reforming our health-care system."

According to the study, 54 percent of American people suffering from chronic illnesses said they didn’t receive recommended health care, fill prescriptions or see a doctor due to high medical costs. Contrasting with the situation in the U.S., only 7 percent of patients in the Netherlands complained about these aspects.

Furthermore, 41 percent of American respondents said they spent over $1,000 on out-of-pocket medical costs in 2007, in contrast with rates of 4 percent in Britain and 5 percent in France, noted the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based health policy research group.