Regional Health Status:
29-County Eastern North Carolina Compared to the Rest of the State (revised 02/17/12)
In 2009, 23.6% of Eastern North Carolinians reported their health as "poor or fair" compared to 17.2% 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 11% greater
Cancer (all sites) mortality is 11% greater
Lung cancer mortality is 12.6% greater
Colon cancer mortality is 14% greater
Diabetes mortality is 44% greater
Stroke mortality is 16.1% greater
COPD mortality is 12.9% less
Unintentional motor vehicle injuries mortality is 26.6% greater
Other Unintentional injuries mortality is 5.8% greater
Homicide mortality is 23.7% greater
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis mortality is 21% greater
Septicemia mortality is 7.9% greater
Pneumonia and influenza mortality is 3.6% greater
Suicide is .1% greater
In terms of premature mortality (i.e., years of life lost before age 75), the 2007 US data3 indicate North Carolina ranks 38th among the 50 states.
If the 29-county Eastern North Carolina region were a state, it would rank 45th; above Oklahoma, Arkansas, West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the District of Columbia. If the rest of North Carolina (71 counties) were considered alone, it would rank 35th, with a rate most similar to Missouri's.
The rates and ranks for 2007 are as follows:
|
Rate |
Rank |
| Minnesota |
516.3 |
1st |
| The rest of NC (71 counties) |
781.7 |
35th |
| NC |
803.3 |
38th |
ENC (41 counties)
|
929.4 |
45th |
ENC (29 counties)
|
933.3 |
45th |
| Mississippi |
1078.8 |
51st |
District of Columbia
|
1101.9 |
(worse than any state) |
United States
|
708.7 |
|
1 North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 2009. Statistically significant at p=.05, 95% CIs for Eastern NC and Rest of NC are 18.8 – 29.1 and 16.1 – 18.5, respectively.
2 Mortality rates per 100,000 for the year 2009 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 2007 and age-adjusted to the US 2000 standard million (from NCHS's Compressed Mortality Files 1999-2007).
