Regional Health Status:
41-County Eastern North Carolina Compared to the Rest of the State (revised 02/17/12)
In 2009, 20.8% of Eastern North Carolinians reported their health as "poor or fair" compared to 17.04% 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 14% greater
Cancer (all sites) mortality is 8% greater
Lung cancer mortality is 9.4% greater
Colon cancer mortality is 4.7% greater
Diabetes mortality is 34% greater
Stroke mortality is 7% greater
COPD mortality is 6.4% less
Unintentional motor vehicle injuries mortality is 37.6% greater
Other Unintentional injuries mortality is 4.4% greater
Homicide is 42.0% greater
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis mortality is 15.6% greater
Septicemia mortality is 7% greater
Pneumonia and influenza mortality is 4% less
Suicide is 2.4% less
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 41-county Eastern North Carolina region were a state, it would rank 45th; above Oklahoma, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the District of Columbia. If the rest of North Carolina (59 counties) were considered alone, it would rank 32nd, with a rate most similar to Maryland's.
The rates and ranks for 2007 are as follows:
| |
Rate |
Rank |
| Minnesota |
516.3 |
1st |
The rest of NC (59 counties)
|
753.1 |
32nd |
| NC |
803.3 |
38th |
ENC (29 counties)
|
929.4 |
45th |
ENC (41counties)
|
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. 95% CIs for Eastern NC and Rest of NC are 18.0 – 23.9 and 15.7 – 18.4, 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).
