Organizational Affiliation: Rhode Island Department of Health Center for Health Information and Communication Author: N/A
Date: October 2003
Contact Information: William J. Waters, Jr.
RI Department of Health, 3 Capital Hill, Providence, RI, 02905-5094
Pages: 84
Content Summary
This report is a very comprehensive analysis of the Healthy Rhode Island 2010 goals analyzed based on race and ethnicity. This report reveals how plans to eliminate racial disparities in health care by 2010 are being addressed in Rhode Island . There are eight objectives that will be used to measure the progress toward the 2010 goals that are assessed by race in this report. The authors report that starting in 2003 there will be new OMB standards for collecting, analyzing, and presenting racial data. Therefore careful analysis of the data is necessary. The report also states that Black Rhode Islanders have significant disparities across several indicators and thus this community should be carefully studied. The minority population in Rhode Island is steadily increasing as a result the health indicators need to specifically address the needs of this increasingly diverse population. The health indicators analyzed in this report include: physical activity, overweight and obesity, tobacco use, substance abuse, responsible sexual behavior, injury and violence, environmental quality, and access to health care. Each indicator is shown with a chart and the rates and disparities are explained in text. It is important to note that the data for certain racial groups for these key indicators are not statistically significant or reliable and are therefore are not presented in this report. Appendix A at the end of the report shows the similarities between the National Health People 2010 objectives and the Healthy Rhode Islander 2010 objectives. Appendix B shows working definitions and important objectives. The report is concluded with two maps of Rhode Island that show the STD cases and rates across Rhode Island.
Major Findings
There are significant racial disparities in every health indicator. For physical activity black and Hispanic adults and Hispanic adolescents are at greatest risk for insufficient rates of activity. For overweight and obesity black adults and black adolescents have the highest rates. White adolescents have the highest rates of tobacco and substance abuse. White unmarried and all sexually active males are least likely to use a condom. For the indicator injury and violence the report shows that Blacks are almost two times as likely to die in motor vehicle accidents compared to Whites. In addition the homicide rate for Blacks is roughly eight times greater than that for Whites. Black children are four times more likely than White children to have elevated lead levels. Black adults are least likely to have health insurance coverage while the rate of being insured among Whites is 92%. Similarly, all minority women are at risk for inadequate prenatal care while 92% of White women receive adequate prenatal care. There is no immunization data reported for any minority group even though there is data presented for the White population. The second part of the report shows that health indicators such as substance abuse, mental health, and several environmental quality objectives do not currently have any race/ethnicity data.
Unaddressed Issues or Concerns
The failure of this report to address the racial disparities in immunization rates is alarming when a 2004 article explains that the immunization gap between blacks and whites is large and is currently increasing (Barker 906). In addition a 2004 study found that the immunization gap between black preschoolers and white preschoolers increased approximately 1.1% each year and the gap between Hispanic preschoolers and white preschoolers increased by 0.5% over the six year study period (Chu 974). The results of these studies indicate that by not monitoring the racial disparities on target indicators, such as immunization, the trends in disparities may exacerbate rather than improve.
Reference List
Barker, Lawrence, Susan Chu, and Philip Smith. "Disparities in Immunizations." American Journal of Public Health. 94.6 (2004): 906.
Chu, Susan, Lawrence Barker, and Phillip Smith. "Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Preschool Immunizations: United States, 1996-2001." American Journal of Public Health. 94.6 (2004): 973-977.
How to Access Report http://www.health.ri.gov/chic/healthypeople/hri2010re.pdf