| OCR Text |
Show DATA INTRODUCTION TO DATA SECTION This section provides a general overview of statistical data relating to health in Utah. When available, data for the nation are provided for comparison. In most cases, data are reported over an extended time span to give the reader a sense of trends in Utah and the nation. Assessing health status is difficult because it covers many different facets of people's lives. The five sub-sections (Demographics, Health Status, Risk Factors, Health Care Costs, Access and Quality, and Public Health) attempt to summarize the many dimensions which affect an individual's health. These data reveal that Utahns typically enjoy better health than most people across the U.S. However, in some cases the measures of health show Utah to be less healthy than the nation. Some of Utah's characteristics include: •Utah's population continues to grow at a faster rate than the nation and the state has the lowest median age in the nation. A larger proportion of younger persons in a population results in differences in the extent and types of health problems. •While Utah's population is generally more healthy than the nation, several of the health status indicators reveal that mortality and incidence rates for Utah are higher than for the nation. These include prostate cancer, diabetes mellitus, occupational fatalities, suicide, and adolescent suicide. •Utahns report that they are more likely to engage in physical activities than people in the majority of die 48 states surveyed and report that they .ire less likely to engage in activities that may negatively impact their health (such as smoking). •Utah ranks in the top quartile of the healthy neighborhoods and healthy behaviors categories reported by America's Public Health Report Card, in the second quartile of the community health service and the medical care access categories and in the lowest quartile of the healthy environment category. Part of the Review includes general consensus indicators that have been selected by a national task force to measure progress made in meeting the goals set forth in Healthy People 2000l on the state and national level. These measures represent factors thought to increase disease and premature death. Eighteen indicators were selected by the national task force, of which seventeen are included in this report. The proportion of persons living in counties that exceed EPA standards for air quality has not been included because it was not available. Healthy People 2000 indicators include: 1) Infant Mortality-Race and Ethnicity, 2) Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths, 3) Work-related Injury Deaths, 4) Suicide Deaths, 5) Lung Cancer Deaths, 6) Female Breast Cancer Deaths, 7) Cardiovascular Disease Deaths, 8) Homicide Deaths, 9) Total Deaths, 10) Incidence of AIDS, 11) Incidence of Measles, 12) Incidence of Tuberculosis, 13) Incidence of Syphilis, 14) Prevalence of Low Birth Weight, 15) Prenatal Care, 16) Childhood Poverty, 17) Births to Adolescents. In all cases, data presented here ire taken from other published and unpublished reports. Most data were gathered from the State Department of Health, the State Office of Planning and Budget and published reports available in the Eccles Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah. The sources are listed in the List of Sources, pp. 82-92 of the Review. Sources listed include primary and secondary sources. Please note, the scales of graphs are not consistent and a graph of a similar size may represent anywhere from zero to four or zero to several thousand units of measure. This year a glossary has been included to help the reader understand important terms. Refer to the glossary at the end of the data section for further explanation of the types of data reported in this section. The Review staff thanks all who contributed time and resources in making this section possible. Utah's State Department of Health and the State Office of Budget and Planning deserve special mention for providing many of the data presented. Department of Health and Human Services. (1990 Sept.). Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for the Nation. Washington D.C.: Public Health Service. U.S. Government Printing Office. Utah's Health: An Annual Review 1994 |
