Scope This report looks at a variety of health indicators: suicide rate, infant mortality rate, overall mortality rate, birth rate and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). STDs focus on gonorrhea and chlamydia. The mortality data include subsets of heart disease and cancer mortality. The infant mortality information breaks out rates for racial categories of white and minorities. (Note that “Hispanic” is an ethnic category, not a racial one, so white Hispanic infant mortality is included in white infant mortality rates and non-white Hispanic infant mortality is included in minorities infant mortality rates.) In the future, the authors would like to expand the health indicators to include measures of HIV/AIDS (also called HIV disease), alcohol and drug abuse, mental health, child dental care, residents without health insurance and many other categories. For a broader look at potential topics, see “Missing and Future Indicators” in this report. Regional Context The rapid population growth of the Charlotte region has led to an influx of people who need health-care assistance. People are moving into the area for the economy, better jobs and to be near family. As newcomers arrive, health-care providers must be prepared to help with the births, illnesses and deaths in their lives. An additional challenge is that some of these newcomers do not speak English and/or are unfamiliar with the U.S. health-care system. The health-care field has faced criticism over rising prices and equitable access to quality healthcare, especially related to minority populations. While this report does not address health-care costs, infant mortality rates are broken down by race to show disparities. Many health issues have a more direct effect on one race than another, and the report’s authors hope future reports will reflect more breakdowns of data by race. Access to health care has always been an important issue in the region. In addition to many colleges and universities in the 14-county region offering training in health care fields, there is a strong health-care industry that consists of hospitals, research centers, medical centers, health departments, etc. In times of crisis, residents rely on this network of health-care providers to communicate with public-safety personnel. Such crises include evacuations, weather emergencies and disease outbreaks. Summary of Indicator Results Two positive indicators in this year’s results are the birth rate and the rate of sexually transmitted diseases. From 2002 through 2005, the birth rate was stable, and most counties within the region outpaced both North and South Carolina in number of live births per 1,000 residents. In 2005, the birth rate in the region was 14.8 live births per 1,000 persons. Cabarrus (15.9), Mecklenburg (17.0) and Union (16.0) counties had the highest birth rates for 2005. With the two sexually transmitted diseases studied, the region posted lower rates than both North and South Carolina in 2006. The incidence of gonorrhea for the Charlotte region was 199.1 cases per 100,000 persons. The North Carolina figure was 199.3 cases per 100,000 persons, while the South Carolina number was 209.9 cases per 100,000 persons. With chlamydia, the rate for the region was 306.4 cases per 100,000 persons in 2006. The North Carolina rate was 387.1 cases per 100,000 persons, while South Carolina was 441.7 per 100,000 persons. The health indicators that raised concerns were: the infant mortality rate for minorities (nonwhites), the overall mortality rate and the suicide rate. For minorities, the average county infant mortality rate in the region rose from 15.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2003 to 17.7 in 2004. That was nearly twice the overall average county rate (9.3) and nearly three times the rate for whites (6.5). Note that in the absence of a specific breakout of race by ethnicity, the rates presented for both racial categories can include Hispanic infant deaths. With mortality rates in general, the average county mortality rate in the region was higher than mortality rates for North Carolina (897.6 deaths per 100,000 persons) and South Carolina (890 deaths per 100,000 persons) in 2004. A positive note emerged related to average county mortality rates for heart disease and cancer. Both rates declined for the region from 2003 to 2004. With suicide, the average county rate for the region was 12.6 suicides per 100,000 persons in 2004. That figure slightly exceeded rates for North Carolina (11.6) and South Carolina (11.3) and needs to be monitored. Missing and Future Indicators Indicators considered for this report but not included because of time, data-availability or space constraints were: HIV disease cases (data not measured uniformly in all areas) and percentages of the population with no health insurance, who smoke or who are overweight or obese. Other potential indicators could include measures of alcohol and drug abuse, mental health facility admissions, child dental/oral care, the number of dentists and the number of nursing-home beds. The aforementioned indicators will be considered for inclusion in future reports. Furthermore, an indicator that would be useful in understanding health would be regional survey data on attitudes and opinions about health issues. The report’s authors also would like to find better ways to compare health data across state lines. Breaking down more of the health indicators along socioeconomic, racial, and other demographic lines would also be informative.
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