The newspaper cites a study published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health.
For the study, researchers said they used five-year averages for median household income to form the 3,141 U.S. counties into 50 new “states” — each representing 2 percent of the U.S. counties (62 or 63 counties each) — by using the 2015 County Health Rankings National Data. They ultimately compared the poorest and wealthiest “states.”
The analysis revealed statistically significant differences in life expectancy, smoking rates, obesity rates, and almost every other measure of health and well-being between the wealthiest and poorest U.S. “states.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the poorest “state” created by researchers included counties from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. The richest “state” was comprised of counties from Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Here are five specific differences researchers found between the poorest “state” and the richest “state,” as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
1. The median household income in the poorest “state” was $24,960 compared to $89,723 in the richest “state.”
2. The ratio of people to primary care physicians in the poorest “state” was twice that of the richest “state.”
3. Women in the poorest “state” had a life expectancy of 75.9 years, compared with 83 years in the richest “state.” For men, life expectancy in the poorest “state” was 69.8 years and 79.3 in the richest “state.”
4. After looking harder into the life expectancy data, the researchers wrote, “the poorest ‘state’ is between 40 and 50 years behind the life expectancy achieved by the wealthiest ‘state,'” according to the Los Angeles Times.
5. After comparing the richest and poorest “states” to 222 actual countries, researchers found that if the richest “state” were an independent country, it would rank eighth in the world in life expectancy for men and 25th for women, according to the newspaper. The poorest “state” would rank 123rd for men and 116th for women.
“This analysis graphically demonstrates the true impact of the extreme socioeconomic disparities that exist in the United States,” the researchers concluded. “These differences can be obscured when one looks only at state data, and suggest that practitioners and policymakers should increasingly focus interventions to address the needs of the poorest citizens in the United States.”
More articles on population health:
More than 1B suffer from high blood pressure globally: 4 study findings
HRSA proposes new hospital scorecard to boost organ donor outreach
Fentanyl overtakes heroin as the most deadly opioid in Massachusetts
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.