General Health
Alameda County ranks 12th out of all California counties in the County Health Ranking for Health Outcomes and 7th in Quality of Life.1 In Alameda County, only 6% of the population is uninsured, compared to California where 8% of the people are uninsured. 11% of the population of Alameda County are smokers. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act/Covered California will likely lower the number of uninsured and future reports should tell us more about the impact on the community.
Lung Health
According to the California Health Interview Survey, 11.3% of Alameda County residents are current smokers.2 The population with the highest smoking rates are African-American, 21.4% of whom smoke. In second place are American Indian/Alaska Native 13.4% of which smoke.
Overall, lung disease (including lung cancer, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, asthma, influenza, and pneumonia) accounts for more deaths than any other health condition in California. Ranked by a three-year average, 1,308.4 people have died from lung disease.3
Lung Cancer
When it comes to lung cancer, Alameda County is ranked 18th in California with an age-adjusted death rate of 28.2 deaths per 100,000 people. Lung cancer is the 4th largest killer in county residents. The mortality rate from lung cancer in California is 28.9 per 100,000 people, and the trend has been going down since the 1990s.3
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, is the tenth leading cause of death in Alameda County with an age-adjusted rate of 36.7 deaths per 100,000 population, which is almost like the California death rate of 35.3. This statistic ranks Alameda County as number 33 out of 58 in the State of California.3
Asthma
According to the California Health Interview Survey, 15.62% of Alameda County residents have been diagnosed with asthma.2 88.5% of those people have had an asthma attack/episode in the past 12 months.2 In addition to that statistic, 10.5% of people visited the emergency room or urgent care in the past 12 months for asthma.2
Tuberculosis
In 2018, Alameda County had 154 Tuberculosis cases reported.5 This is up from 2017 when Alameda County had 124 reported cases of tuberculosis and was ranked 4th out of the 58 counties in California.4 The population with the highest number of cases are Asians/Pacific Islanders, with 19.1 per 100,000 people. 61% of the cases were male and 35% of the cases were adults ranging from 45 to 64 years of age. 90.3% of the people with Tuberculosis were born outside of the United States.5
Influenza/Pneumonia
Influenza and Pneumonia are the 11th leading cause of death in the state of California, with an age-adjusted death rate for Alameda County of 12.6 deaths per 100,000 people.3 This rate is lower than the prior year’s death rate of 13.2 deaths per 100,000 people.4 This ranks Alameda County as 24th out of California’s 58 counties.3
Bibliography
- Country Health Rankings. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2020, from https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/california/2019/rankings/outcomes/overall
2. California Health Interview Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2020, from http://ask.chis.ucla.edu/ask/SitePages/AskChisLogin.aspx?ReturnUrl=/AskCHIS/tools/_layouts/Authenticate.aspx?Source=%2FAskCHIS%2Ftools%2F%5Flayouts%2FAskChisTool%2Fhome%2Easpx&Source=/AskCHIS/tools/_layouts/AskChisTool/home.aspx#.
3. County Health Status Profiles 2018. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2020, from https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/CDPH%20Document%20Library/CHSP-County%20Profiles%202018.pdf
4. County Health Status Profiles 2017. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2020, from https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20Library/TBCB-TB-Provisional-Tables-2017.pdf
5. Tuberculosis Fact Sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2020, from http://www.acphd.org/media/537710/tb-factsheet-acphd-2018.pdf