TABLE 2—
Local Health Department Characteristics by Local Public Health System Type: US Longitudinal Study of Local Public Health Systems, 2006
| Local Public Health System Type |
||||||||
| Characteristics | Overall | Concentrated Comprehensive | Independent Comprehensive | Distributed Conventional | Concentrated Limited | Distributed Limited | Other Types | P |
| Local health department, No. (%) | 211 (100.0) | 47 (22.3) | 23 (10.9) | 66 (31.8) | 36 (17.1) | 25 (11.9) | 13 (6.2) | |
| Average county annual STD incidence rate per 100 000 population, mean (SD) | 480.7 (366.2) | 463.5 (283.9) | 540.6 (327.8) | 463.7 (442.4) | 475.2 (311.5) | 472.7 (288.3) | 534.3 (354.3) | .236a |
| Local health department population, mean (SD) | 496 375.5 (967 630.7) | 761 209.9 (1 808 374.0) | 653 891.4 (778 095.6) | 346 442.4 (299 210.9) | 393 930.7 (500 754.4) | 412 753.2 (561 123.6) | 477 453.2 (626 031.2) | .276 |
| Jurisdiction type, % | ||||||||
| County | 59.2 | 61.7 | 52.2 | 58.2 | 61.1 | 64.0 | 35.9 | .659 |
| City and county | 16.1 | 21.3 | 17.4 | 11.9 | 13.9 | 16.0 | 23.1 | |
| City or town | 7.1 | 6.4 | 4.4 | 6.0 | 5.6 | 16.0 | 7.7 | |
| Multicounty | 17.5 | 10.6 | 26.1 | 23.9 | 19.4 | 4.0 | 15.4 | |
| Governance, % | ||||||||
| No local board of health (Ref) | 28.0 | 19.2 | 30.4 | 35.8 | 30.6 | 24.0 | 15.4 | .404 |
| Board of health, no governing role | 24.2 | 30.0 | 17.4 | 16.4 | 22.2 | 40.0 | 30.8 | |
| Board of health, governing role | 47.9 | 51.1 | 52.2 | 47.8 | 47.2 | 36.0 | 53.9 | |
| Local health department resources, mean (SD) | ||||||||
| Local health department expenditures per capita | 40.9 (29.5) | 48.9 (40.8) | 47.0 (31.8) | 38.3 (25.1) | 36.2 (24.4) | 39.1 (23.5) | 31.2 (11.6) | .196 |
| Local (city and county) sources of funding | 28.5 (20.6) | 32.5 (20.5) | 36.6 (25.85) | 22.2 (19.24) | 32.3 (16.86) | 26.8 (21.08) | 24.5 (18.73) | .017 |
| Local health department employees per 100 000 population | 54.2 (35.1) | 53.6 (30.7) | 76.9 (50.1) | 50.1 (31.2) | 54.1 (37.7) | 52.5 (37.4) | 44.3 (16.5) | .065 |
| Local health department health educators per 100 000 population | 1.6 (2.2) | 1.6 (1.9) | 2.1 (2.2) | 1.5 (1.9) | 1.1 (1.7) | 2.4 (3.8) | 1.1 (1.0) | .211 |
| Local health department nurses per 100 000 population | 12.6 (14.9) | 11.6 (10.6) | 15.4 (12.7) | 11.4 (8.4) | 12.6 (14.1) | 17.6 (32.0) | 7.9 (5.3) | .346 |
| Local health department epidemiologists per 100 000 population | 0.4 (0.6) | 0.5 (0.6) | 0.7 (0.9) | 0.3 (0.4) | 0.3 (0.4) | 0.6 (1.1) | 0.3 (0.4) | .199 |
| Proportion of essential public health services available, mean (SD) | 70.2 (17.7) | 89.3 (8.5) | 81.7 (6.3) | 54.4 (12.0) | 66.1 (7.4) | 69.6 (9.2) | 87.4 (9.0) | < .001 |
| Proportion of all essential public health services contributed by system partners, mean (SD) | ||||||||
| Across all partnersb | 27.8 (12.8) | 41.0 (10.8) | 36.6 (8.3) | 15.4 (5.5) | 30.1 (8.1) | 25.7 (9.6) | 25.0 (8.7) | < .001 |
| Community health centers | 28.6 (21.8) | 43.8 (21.5) | 42.9 (22.6) | 12.5 (11.8) | 31.6 (19.1) | 29.8 (16.4) | 18.6 (18.1) | < .001 |
| Physician organizations | 26.8 (23.2) | 40.7 (28.0) | 29.6 (22.8) | 14.1 (12.7) | 32.5 (19.8) | 26.9 (20.6) | 20.8 (27.6) | < .001 |
| Hospitals | 40.9 (19.2) | 56.9 (18.0) | 53.4 (14.4) | 23.8 (11.0) | 44.6 (15.1) | 37.1 (12.8) | 45.0 (12.6) | < .001 |
| Faith-based organizations | 19.2 (17.2) | 32.8 (18.8) | 29.4 (19.2) | 9.5 (9.0) | 17.5 (14.0) | 13.4 (10.8) | 17.4 (18.7) | < .001 |
Note. STD = sexually transmitted diseases (includes gonorrhea and chlamydia).
a
We tested differences in log-transformed STD incidence rates.
b
Across “all partners” includes local health departments, state health agencies, other state agencies, local agencies, federal agencies, physician organizations, hospitals, community health centers, faith-based organizations, other nonprofit organizations, health insurers, employers, schools, universities, and other organizations.