Table 1. Descriptive Statistics for Delta Counties (n = 252) and Non-Delta Counties (n = 468) in Eight States in Mississippi River Delta Region and for US Counties Overall (n = 3,141), 2014a,b .
| Variable | Delta Counties | Non-Delta Counties | P Valuec | National Average | P Valued |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health outcomes | |||||
| Mortalitye, rate per 100,000 | 10,556 (2,023) | 8,903 (2,129) | <.001 | 8,060 (2,407) | <.001 |
| Self-rated fair or poor health | 22.9 (4.6) | 21.0 (6.8) | <.001 | 17.3 (6.1) | <.001 |
| Low birth weight | 10.8 (2.5) | 8.7 (1.8) | <.001 | 8.3 (2.1) | <.001 |
| Health behaviors | |||||
| Tobacco use | 27.9 (2.6) | 27.6 (3.4) | .41 | 24.8 (4.0) | <.001 |
| Diet and exercise | |||||
| Access to exercise opportunities | 39.1 (21.2) | 47.4 (21.9) | <.001 | 52.3 (24.5) | <.001 |
| Adult obesity | 35.2 (3.6) | 32.3 (2.8) | <.001 | 30.6 (4.2) | <.001 |
| Food environment indexf | 6.34 (1.49) | 7.52 (0.85) | <.001 | 7.37 (1.25) | <.001 |
| Physical inactivity | 33.3 (3.4) | 31.5 (4.0) | <.001 | 27.9 (5.3) | <.001 |
| Alcohol and drug use | |||||
| Excessive drinking | 12.8 (3.8) | 14.1 (5.2) | .05 | 16.5 (5.2) | <.001 |
| Alcohol-impaired driving deaths | 11.3 (12.8) | 15.1 (28.2) | .34 | 17.4 (36.8) | .02 |
| Sexual activity | |||||
| Sexually transmitted disease, rate per 100,000 | 612.28 (389.77) | 337.54 (226.89) | <.001 | 354.63 (273.90) | <.001 |
| Teen births, rate per 1,000 | 60.21 (16.45) | 48.65 (15.13) | <.001 | 44.41 (20.03) | <.001 |
| Clinical care | |||||
| Access to care | |||||
| Dentist, rate per 100,000 | 29.37 (16.30) | 33.57 (18.17) | .07 | 39.28 (25.01) | <.001 |
| Mental health provider, rate per 100,000 | 58.61 (65.57) | 67.45 (69.61) | .50 | 87.87 (98.79) | <.001 |
| Primary care physician, rate per 100,000 | 42.14 (24.09) | 47.05 (25.93) | .14 | 55.24 (33.87) | <.001 |
| Uninsured | 19.2 (2.8) | 17.4 (3.7) | <.001 | 18.0 (5.5) | <.001 |
| Quality of care | |||||
| Diabetic monitoring | 82.5 (4.5) | 84.4 (4.5) | <.001 | 83.9 (6.7) | .002 |
| Mammography screening | 56.9 (6.8) | 58.5 (7.4) | .03 | 60.8 (8.3) | <.001 |
| Preventable hospital stays, rate per 1,000 | 99.23 (29.53) | 94.85 (37.43) | .17 | 76.49 (29.88) | <.001 |
| Social and economic factors | |||||
| Unemployment | 9.2 (2.3) | 8.3 (2.0) | <.001 | 7.7 (2.8) | <.001 |
| Education | |||||
| High school graduationg | 78.0 (9.5) | 83.6 (7.0) | <.001 | 81.6 (9.7) | <.001 |
| Some college | 47.5 (9.2) | 51.5 (10.7) | <.001 | 55.1 (11.8) | <.001 |
| Income | |||||
| Median household income, $ | 36,652 (7,095) | 41,358 (9,858) | <.001 | 44,829 (11,394) | <.001 |
| Children in poverty | 34.2 (9.3) | 27.1 (8.4) | <.001 | 24.5 (9.2) | <.001 |
| Family and social support | |||||
| Single-parent household | 41.7 (12.5) | 31.9 (7.8) | <.001 | 31.6 (10.3) | <.001 |
| Inadequate social support | 23.0 (5.2) | 19.9 (5.1) | <.001 | 19.3 (5.4) | <.001 |
| Community safety | |||||
| Injury deaths, rate per 100,000 | 87.06 (18.66) | 82.02 (22.41) | .02 | 76.16 (24.64) | <.001 |
| Violent crimes, rate per 100,000 | 390.31 (302.13) | 255.32 (195.19) | <.001 | 257.12 (207.49) | <.001 |
| Physical environment | |||||
| Air and water quality | |||||
| Air particulatesh | 12.22 (1.15) | 12.24 (1.51) | .98 | 11.62 (1.53) | <.001 |
| Water violations | 11.3 (14.8) | 8.6 (15.9) | .08 | 9.2 (16.8) | .13 |
| Housing and transportation | |||||
| Driving alone to work | 82.2 (3.9) | 81.2 (4.1) | .16 | 78.2 (7.8) | <.001 |
| Long commute driving alone | 32.7 (10.7) | 33.6 (11.0) | .57 | 29.6 (12.0) | <.001 |
| Severe housing problems | 14.6 (3.9) | 13.0 (3.0) | <.001 | 14.1 (4.8) | .21 |
| Demographics | |||||
| Female | 50.5 (2.6) | 50.5 (1.7) | .90 | 50.0 (2.2) | <.001 |
| Race/ethnicity | |||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 68.0 (22.8) | 86.5 (12.6) | <.001 | 78.0 (19.9) | <.001 |
| African American | 27.7 (23.1) | 7.5 (11.1) | <.001 | 8.8 (14.4) | <.001 |
| Hispanic | 2.4 (1.8) | 3.5 (3.9) | .43 | 8.5 (13.3) | <.001 |
| Ruralityi | 66.0 (26.9) | 63.3 (28.9) | .50 | 58.6 (31.5) | <.001 |
Values are mean (standard deviation) percentages unless otherwise noted.
Data were from the 2014 County Health Rankings for counties in 8 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee) (5).
P value for the group differences between Delta counties and non-Delta counties.
P value for the group differences between Delta counties and the national average.
Defined as years of potential life lost (YPLL) before age 75, a measure of premature, or preventable, death.
Values are an index of factors that contribute to a healthy food environment on a scale of 0 (worst) to 10 (best).
Data for high school graduation rates are for 2010–2011 and do not include Idaho, Kentucky, or Oklahoma because these states had different methods of estimation than the rest of the country at that time.
Values are average daily density of fine particulate matter less than 2.5 micrograms in diameter per cubic meter.
Rurality is defined as the percentage of the population living in a rural area.