Comparison of Health Status Indicators in Chicago
Comparison of Health Status Indicators in Chicago
Objectives: This study examined Chicago residents' progress toward the Healthy People 2000 goal of reducing racial disparities in health and compared the results with a recent analysis of US data.
Methods: Non-Hispanic Black-to-non-Hispanic White rate ratios were computed for 14 health status indicators for 1990 and for 1998.
Results: Nationally and in Chicago, indicators for both Blacks and Whites improved between 1990 and 1998; however, Whites consistently fared better. Nationally, gaps narrowed on 10 indicators; for Chicago, they widened on 10 indicators.
Conclusions: Nationally, there is apparent progress in reducing Black-White disparities; this is not true for Chicago. Whether failure to reduce racial disparities is unique to Chicago or is common to other urban centers remains an open question with important implications.
Healthy People 2000 included 3 overarching goals, 1 of which was to reduce health disparities among different groups of people (e.g., races, genders, ethnicities). Objective 22.1 of Healthy People 2000 also called for the development of a set of health status indicators that would facilitate the evaluation of the pursuit of the Healthy People objectives.
Recently, Keppel et al. at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report summarizing the nation's progress thus far on 17 health status indicators. This progress toward reducing disparities was examined between 1990 and 1998 for the 5 largest racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Improvement was generally seen for several of the indicators among a majority of the racial/ethnic groups.
On a similar note, Silva et al. published an analysis of Chicago's progress in reducing Black-White disparities that utilized many of these same indicators. Their analysis of 22 different measures found that Black-White disparities (i.e., rate ratios) had increased for 19 of the 22 between 1980 and 1998. Trends at the national level and in Chicago appear contradictory; however, important differences in methodological details and some definitions did not allow direct comparisons. The need for direct comparisons between local and national trends is therefore substantiated.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the progress Chicago is making in reducing racial disparities in health and to compare this with US data trends. Such an activity is notably consistent with one of the stated purposes mentioned in the CDC report, facilitate the comparison of health status measures at national, State, and local levels." In addition, the committee that shaped the details of Objective 22.1 stated that "when possible, states and localities should analyze the indicators for each of the major population groups in their jurisdictions."
In this analysis we used 14 of the 17 indicators employed by Keppel et al., used the same years (1990 and 1998), and similarly made non-Hispanic Black versus non-Hispanic White comparisons. We hope that such an evaluation will assist Chicago in its pursuit of minimizing and eventually eliminating racial disparities in health.
Objectives: This study examined Chicago residents' progress toward the Healthy People 2000 goal of reducing racial disparities in health and compared the results with a recent analysis of US data.
Methods: Non-Hispanic Black-to-non-Hispanic White rate ratios were computed for 14 health status indicators for 1990 and for 1998.
Results: Nationally and in Chicago, indicators for both Blacks and Whites improved between 1990 and 1998; however, Whites consistently fared better. Nationally, gaps narrowed on 10 indicators; for Chicago, they widened on 10 indicators.
Conclusions: Nationally, there is apparent progress in reducing Black-White disparities; this is not true for Chicago. Whether failure to reduce racial disparities is unique to Chicago or is common to other urban centers remains an open question with important implications.
Healthy People 2000 included 3 overarching goals, 1 of which was to reduce health disparities among different groups of people (e.g., races, genders, ethnicities). Objective 22.1 of Healthy People 2000 also called for the development of a set of health status indicators that would facilitate the evaluation of the pursuit of the Healthy People objectives.
Recently, Keppel et al. at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report summarizing the nation's progress thus far on 17 health status indicators. This progress toward reducing disparities was examined between 1990 and 1998 for the 5 largest racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Improvement was generally seen for several of the indicators among a majority of the racial/ethnic groups.
On a similar note, Silva et al. published an analysis of Chicago's progress in reducing Black-White disparities that utilized many of these same indicators. Their analysis of 22 different measures found that Black-White disparities (i.e., rate ratios) had increased for 19 of the 22 between 1980 and 1998. Trends at the national level and in Chicago appear contradictory; however, important differences in methodological details and some definitions did not allow direct comparisons. The need for direct comparisons between local and national trends is therefore substantiated.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the progress Chicago is making in reducing racial disparities in health and to compare this with US data trends. Such an activity is notably consistent with one of the stated purposes mentioned in the CDC report, facilitate the comparison of health status measures at national, State, and local levels." In addition, the committee that shaped the details of Objective 22.1 stated that "when possible, states and localities should analyze the indicators for each of the major population groups in their jurisdictions."
In this analysis we used 14 of the 17 indicators employed by Keppel et al., used the same years (1990 and 1998), and similarly made non-Hispanic Black versus non-Hispanic White comparisons. We hope that such an evaluation will assist Chicago in its pursuit of minimizing and eventually eliminating racial disparities in health.