Regional Health Status: 29-County Eastern North Carolina Compared to the Rest of the State (revised 01/15/09)
In 2007, 21.8% of Eastern North Carolinians reported their health as “poor or fair” compared to 18.2% of citizens in the rest of the state.1
Age-adjusted death rates are substantially greater in Eastern North Carolina than the rest of the state for virtually all major causes of death.2
Heart disease mortality is 12.1% greater
Coronary heart disease mortality is 12.0% greater
Cancer (all sites) mortality is 9.2% greater
Cervical cancer mortality is 30.9% greater
Prostate cancer mortality is 7.9% greater
Female breast cancer mortality is 13.8% greater
Lung cancer mortality is 9.1% greater
Colon cancer mortality is 9.2% greater
Diabetes mortality is 38.6% greater
Stroke mortality is 7.9% greater
COPD mortality is 7.8% less
Unintentional motor vehicle injuries mortality is 24.7% greater
Other Unintentional injuries mortality is 6.1% less
Homicide is 45.4% greater
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis mortality is 12.9% greater
Septicemia mortality is 16.3% greater
Pneumonia and influenza mortality is 10.3% greater
Suicide is 3.3% less
In terms of premature mortality (i.e., years of life lost before age 75), the 2005 US data3 indicate North Carolina ranks 38th among the 50 states.With the exception of Virginia (21st) and Florida (36th), North Carolina ranks above the other southern states (including Oklahoma).
If the 29-county Eastern North Carolina region were a state, it would rank 48th; above Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the District of Columbia.If the rest of North Carolina (71 counties) were considered alone, it would rank 36th, with a rate most similar to Florida’s.
The rates and ranks for 2005 are as follows:
Rate
Rank
Minnesota
530.3
1st
The rest of NC (71 counties)
792.1
36th
NC
817.0
38th
ENC (41 counties)
928.2
44th
ENC (29 counties)
961.1
48th
Mississippi
1110.8
51st
District of Columbia
1201.9
(worse than any state)
United States
729.4
1 North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 2007.Statistically significant at p=.05, 95% CIs for Eastern NC and Rest of NC are 19.6 – 24.1 and 17.2 – 19.2, respectively.There were 20 observations (0.55% of sample) that are excluded due to missing county codes.
2 Mortality rates per 100,000 for the year 2007 and age-adjusted to the US 2000 standard million (from NC SCHS’s Vital Statistics accessed via UNC—Chapel Hill’s Odum Institute).
3 Premature mortality (before age 75) rates per 10,000 for the year 2005 and age-adjusted to the US 2000 standard million (from NCHS’s Compressed Mortality Files 1999-2005).
