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Show Taking a Closer Look at Women's Health in Utah by Denise E. Beaudoin, M.D., M.S.P.H. Wu Xu, Ph.D. Robert T. Rolfs, M.D. "An attention to health then should take place of every other object. The time necessary to secure this by active exercises, should be devoted to it in preference to every other pursuit." Thomas Jefferson, July 6, 1787 Introduction In 1985, the Public Health Service Task Force on Women's Health Issues defined women's health as diseases or conditions that were unique to women, more prevalent or more serious in women, or for which specific risk factors or interventions differed for women.i There is currently a growing trend to define women's health, not just in terms of physical well-being, but also in relation to social, cultural, spiritual and emotional factors.2,3 The sphere of women's health concerns has expanded beyond reproductive health to include such issues as menopause, female cancers, depression, osteoporosis, heart disease and domestic violence, among others. The Platform for Action presented at the Fourth World Conference on Women in September 1995 emphasized the importance of viewing women's health from a broader perspective that takes into account a woman's entire life cycle, "recognizing that health conditions in one phase of a woman's life affect not only subsequent phases, but also future generations."4 In September 1996, an ad hoc Women's Health Committee comprised of individuals within and outside of the Utah Department of Health produced a report on women's health in Utah.5= This article will highlight selected findings from that report and offer recommendations for related public health activities. In order to provide a context for the data presented in this article, we will first review some of the demographic characteristics of " Note: The "Women's Health in Utah" report can be accessed via the Internet at the following address: http://hlunix.hl.state.ut.us/action 2000/wmnhlth.html women in Utah. (Table 1) According to projections by the State Office of Planning and Budget, there were 653,647 women 18 years of age and older living in Utah in 1995.6 The median age of Utah women was 27 years.6 On average, women in Utah have more children than other American women.5 The crude birth rate (the number of live births per 1,000 population) in Utah and in the United States decreased by more than one third between 1950 and 1994; however, the Utah birth rate remains over 30 percent higher than the national rate.5 The proportion of Utah women 25 years of age and older who have graduated from college has increased substantially since 1950.7 The percentage of Utah women working outside the home has also increased.8 In fact, Utah women have been more likely to work outside the home than other American women since 1980 but still earn less than Utah men.5 Despite their lower earnings, the percentage of Utah women assuming "head of household" status has been increasing since 1960.7 Leading Causes of Death The leading causes of death for Utah women vary by age. Unintentional injuries, especially those related to motor vehicle crashes, claim more lives of women below the age of 25 than any other cause.9 Similar to the rest of the country, cancer is the leading cause of death among Utah women 25 to 64 years of age.9 Heart disease, often thought of as a disease of men, is the leading cause of death among Utah women 65 years of age and older and actually claims the lives of more Utah women than men in that age group.9 It is also responsible for substantial morbidity. For example, heart disease accounted for more than 3,000 hospital discharges per year in Utah during 1992-93, a rate of 41.4 per 10,000 women.5 Chronic Diseases Heart disease, malignant neoplasms and stroke cause at least 50 percent of deaths among Utah women 65 years of age and 6 Taking a Closer Look at Women's Health |