Health News
- Smoking Persists Or Even Increases In Poor, Rural, Working-class Counties; New York Times Cites Clay County As An Example
Clay County has a dubious distinction. It has the highest rate of smoking for any U.S. county with a population under 15,000. Researchers at the University of Washington pointed that out, and The New York Times focused on it in reporting the larger...
- Just-released Figures Show Uninsured By County, Age, Income
People in Logan, Magoffin, Casey, Todd, Menifee, Adair, Monroe, Edmonson and McCreary counties are more likely to lack health insurance than residents of other Kentucky counties, according to the data just released from the Bureau of the Census. And children...
- More County-specific Health Data Are Available, Painting Detailed Pictures Of Your Local Area's Health
Five years' worth of county-specific data are now available for many types of health indicators on the Kentucky Health Facts website. The site features data on demographics, social and behavioral indicators, health outcomes, access to care, and maternal...
- Number Of U.s. Adults Treated For Diabetes More Than Doubled In A Decade; It's A Big Problem In Kentucky
Diabetes, a bigger problem in Kentucky than in most states, is exploding nationally. The number of U.S. adults treated for the disease more than doubled between 1996 and 2007, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has estimated. About...
- Learning About Your Diabetes Risk
By Jamie Strauss, R.D., L.D.N., Clinical Dietitian, Sinai Hospital How many people do you know have diabetes? How many of those people that have diabetes knew they were at risk? And how many people are walking around undiagnosed? November is American...
Health News
Neat app shows how education, income affect a county's health
Based on the premise that much of what influences health happens outside the doctor's office, the 2012 County Health Calculator uses education and income to illustrate how these factors can affect one's health any county.
The app estimates how many cases of diabetes would be prevented, how many lives would be saved and how many diabetes costs would be eliminated if income or education levels improved by specific amounts in a specific area. For example, the Pulaski County page shows, "If 5 percent more people attended some college and 4 percent more had an income higher than twice the federal poverty level, we could expect to save 17 lives, prevent 175 cases of diabetes, and eliminate $12 million in diabetes costs every year."
The application also shows which counties have the highest and lowest education levels (best: Fayette County, worst: Clay County) and income levels (best: Oldham County, worst: McCreary County).
The interactive app was developed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Virginia Commonwealth University's Center on Human Needs and renders "ballpark estimates" of avertable deaths, diabetes and diabetes cost. Researchers obtained education and income data from the U.S Census Bureau and county death rates and estimates of the prevalence of diabetes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Estimates of diabetes prevalence were based on self-reports by people who responded to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Data on medical spending on diabetes derived from The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. (Read more)
- Smoking Persists Or Even Increases In Poor, Rural, Working-class Counties; New York Times Cites Clay County As An Example
Clay County has a dubious distinction. It has the highest rate of smoking for any U.S. county with a population under 15,000. Researchers at the University of Washington pointed that out, and The New York Times focused on it in reporting the larger...
- Just-released Figures Show Uninsured By County, Age, Income
People in Logan, Magoffin, Casey, Todd, Menifee, Adair, Monroe, Edmonson and McCreary counties are more likely to lack health insurance than residents of other Kentucky counties, according to the data just released from the Bureau of the Census. And children...
- More County-specific Health Data Are Available, Painting Detailed Pictures Of Your Local Area's Health
Five years' worth of county-specific data are now available for many types of health indicators on the Kentucky Health Facts website. The site features data on demographics, social and behavioral indicators, health outcomes, access to care, and maternal...
- Number Of U.s. Adults Treated For Diabetes More Than Doubled In A Decade; It's A Big Problem In Kentucky
Diabetes, a bigger problem in Kentucky than in most states, is exploding nationally. The number of U.S. adults treated for the disease more than doubled between 1996 and 2007, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has estimated. About...
- Learning About Your Diabetes Risk
By Jamie Strauss, R.D., L.D.N., Clinical Dietitian, Sinai Hospital How many people do you know have diabetes? How many of those people that have diabetes knew they were at risk? And how many people are walking around undiagnosed? November is American...