Upon first glance of the Wayne County health rankings I was stricken by how poorly it compared to New York State as a whole and even the US. For example, Wayne County ranked 46 out of 62 in terms of mortality in NYS. This was measured based on premature death or years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population, where Wayne County was 6,516 versus, 5,812 in NYS, and 5,466 nationally. This was surprising and disappointing but Wayne County is predominantly rural and access to healthcare is often sparse, which may be contributing factors. While small primary care offices are scattered through rural towns in Wayne County, hospitals and even urgent care centers are few and far between, presenting a problem for people without cars to access such facilities.
Furthermore, Wayne County did not fare well in the measures of morbidity either, ranking 47 out of 62 in NYS. 16% of adults reported poor or fair health which is on par with NYS but higher than the 10% reported in the US. Additionally, the average number of physically unhealthy days reported in past 30 days was 4.9 in Wayne County but only 3.5 in NYS and 2.6 in the US. Wayne County reported similar statistics for poor mental health days. The percentage of low birth weight was 6.7% in Wayne County but 6.0% in the US. This compared favorably to 8.1% in NYS. The high percentage of unhealthy days may reflect working conditions because many rural jobs are physically demanding, the quintessential example being farming. It may also reflect the lack of access to healthcare because people who aren't receiving primary care may only seek care when a problem becomes acute. Again, the poor mental health reported may be due to a lack of access to care. Wayne County's percentage of low birth weight was good in comparison to the state overall, which surprises me based on the other statistics seen but it may reflect better pregnancy care initiatives than in other parts of the state.
In terms of Social and Economic factors, Wayne County seems slightly better than NYS but worse than the US. For example, the high school graduation percentage was 82% in Wayne County versus 65% in NYS. The percentage of unemployment in the county was very similar to that of NYS but higher than the national percentage. Similar patterns were seen for inadequate social support, but in regard to children in poverty and children in single-parent households, Wayne County fell between NYS and the US. Surprisingly, violent crime was 178 per 100,000 in Wayne County and 399 per 100,000 in NYS, but only 73 per 100,000 nationally. This was the most surprising social factor in my opinion because violent crime is often associated with urban areas.
I was also surprised to see that Wayne County reported a teen birth-rate of 32 per 1,000 females 15-19, compared to 27 in NYS and 22 nationally. I suspected this was a reflection of high school graduation rate but the graduation rate in Wayne County is actually much higher than in NYS. Therefore, this may just reflect a need for better sex education. It may indicate the influence of religion in rural areas, where it tends to be prominent. As religiously influenced education may teach abstinence only, and abstinence teaching does not often prevent teenage sexual activity, there may be a correlation between religion and the high teen birth-rate in Wayne County, although this is just speculation.
In terms of clinical care, the statistics indicate that Wayne County has a much higher ratio of patients to physicians than NYS or the US (2,615:1 vs. 781:1 and 631:1respectively). This indicates a serious lack of physicians which is a likely cause of diminished access to healthcare. It may also be a cause of the higher rate of preventable hospital stays in Wayne County compared to NYS and the US. In fact, it seems to me that the lack of physicians in the county may be the nexus of many of the health problems in Wayne County. Therefore, an initiative to bring more physicians to Wayne County may help the population in a myriad of ways.
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/new-york/2012/wayne/county/1/overall
Furthermore, Wayne County did not fare well in the measures of morbidity either, ranking 47 out of 62 in NYS. 16% of adults reported poor or fair health which is on par with NYS but higher than the 10% reported in the US. Additionally, the average number of physically unhealthy days reported in past 30 days was 4.9 in Wayne County but only 3.5 in NYS and 2.6 in the US. Wayne County reported similar statistics for poor mental health days. The percentage of low birth weight was 6.7% in Wayne County but 6.0% in the US. This compared favorably to 8.1% in NYS. The high percentage of unhealthy days may reflect working conditions because many rural jobs are physically demanding, the quintessential example being farming. It may also reflect the lack of access to healthcare because people who aren't receiving primary care may only seek care when a problem becomes acute. Again, the poor mental health reported may be due to a lack of access to care. Wayne County's percentage of low birth weight was good in comparison to the state overall, which surprises me based on the other statistics seen but it may reflect better pregnancy care initiatives than in other parts of the state.
In terms of Social and Economic factors, Wayne County seems slightly better than NYS but worse than the US. For example, the high school graduation percentage was 82% in Wayne County versus 65% in NYS. The percentage of unemployment in the county was very similar to that of NYS but higher than the national percentage. Similar patterns were seen for inadequate social support, but in regard to children in poverty and children in single-parent households, Wayne County fell between NYS and the US. Surprisingly, violent crime was 178 per 100,000 in Wayne County and 399 per 100,000 in NYS, but only 73 per 100,000 nationally. This was the most surprising social factor in my opinion because violent crime is often associated with urban areas.
I was also surprised to see that Wayne County reported a teen birth-rate of 32 per 1,000 females 15-19, compared to 27 in NYS and 22 nationally. I suspected this was a reflection of high school graduation rate but the graduation rate in Wayne County is actually much higher than in NYS. Therefore, this may just reflect a need for better sex education. It may indicate the influence of religion in rural areas, where it tends to be prominent. As religiously influenced education may teach abstinence only, and abstinence teaching does not often prevent teenage sexual activity, there may be a correlation between religion and the high teen birth-rate in Wayne County, although this is just speculation.
In terms of clinical care, the statistics indicate that Wayne County has a much higher ratio of patients to physicians than NYS or the US (2,615:1 vs. 781:1 and 631:1respectively). This indicates a serious lack of physicians which is a likely cause of diminished access to healthcare. It may also be a cause of the higher rate of preventable hospital stays in Wayne County compared to NYS and the US. In fact, it seems to me that the lack of physicians in the county may be the nexus of many of the health problems in Wayne County. Therefore, an initiative to bring more physicians to Wayne County may help the population in a myriad of ways.
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/new-york/2012/wayne/county/1/overall
