Table 1. Characteristics of the Study Sample of 3142 US Counties, 2005-2015.
| Characteristic | Mean (95% CI) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | Within-County Change, 2005 to 2015a | |
| Independent Predictor Variables | ||||
| Physicians per 100 000 populationb | ||||
| Total | 114.6 (0.0 to 425.7) | 111.6 (0.0 to 434.9) | 112.8 (0.0 to 461.3) | −1.9 (−64.0 to 67.1) |
| Primary care | 46.6 (0.0 to 114.6) | 44.0 (0.0 to 113.7) | 41.4 (0.0 to 108.6) | −5.2 (−44.6 to 28.8) |
| Specialist | 68.0 (0.0 to 326.7) | 67.6 (0.0 to 327.5) | 71.3 (0.0 to 356.2) | 3.4 (−40.1 to 58.9) |
| Nonmetro area, % | 67.3 | 73.0 | 73.0 | 5.7 |
| Population in poverty, %c,d | 15.3 (5.6 to 31.4) | 16.8 (7.0 to 31.8) | 16.3 (6.9 to 32.0) | 1.0 (−4.2 to 5.6) |
| Median household income, 2015 $US | 54 038.4 (34 370.7 to 90 744.6) | 53 068.2 (34 523.4 to 87 779.4) | 48 600.6 (30 622.5 to 80 641.5) | −5448 (−15 011.1 to 6711.5) |
| Population with less than high school education, % | 17.8 (6.4 to 37.7) | 15.4 (5.5 to 32.3) | 13 (3.2 to 29.2) | −4.8 (−16.7 to 4.3) |
| Population ≥65 y, % | 14.8 (7.6 to 24.1) | 15.8 (8.5 to 25.2) | 18.0 (10.0 to 27.9) | 3.1 (−1.4 to 7.9) |
| Population female, % | 50.3 (45.1 to 53.0) | 49.8 (43.3 to 53.6) | 50.0 (43.9 to 52.8) | −0.3 (−3.1 to 1.5) |
| Population black, % | 9.0 (0.0 to 53) | 9.1 (0.2 to 53.1) | 9.3 (0.3 to 53.2) | 0.3 (−2.7 to 3.1) |
| Population Hispanic, % | 7.1 (0.5 to 46.9) | 8.1 (0.8 to 50.4) | 9.2 (0.9 to 53.6) | 2.1 (−0.1 to 7.5) |
| Unemployment rate, % | 5.6 (2.8 to 12.3) | 9.4 (3.7 to 17.5) | 5.7 (2.5 to 12.4) | 0.1 (−2.3 to 3.1) |
| Uninsured among persons aged <65 y, % | 25.0 (13.0 to 40.4) | 18.5 (9.3 to 30.7) | 12 (4.7 to 23.2) | −13.0 (−25.4 to −4.0) |
| Hospital beds per 100 000 population | 358.6 (0.0 to 1733.0) | 324.3 (0.0 to 1462.3) | 294.7 (0.0 to 1336.0) | −63.2 (−592.9 to 185.9) |
| Medicare enrollment, % | 16.3 (7.0 to 26.4) | 18.3 (8.7 to 28.2) | 20.6 (9.8 to 32.0) | 4.3 (−1.4 to 10.6) |
| Geographic variation in terms of per capita medical costs, 2015, $US | 8946.3 (5734.3 to 13 002.4) | 9395.5 (7311.4 to 12 394.6) | 9843.4 (7790.6 to 12 676.8) | 898.4 (−2914.8 to 4608.3) |
| Adult tobacco smoking, % | 17.9 (12.7 to 25.6) | 21.3 (11.0 to 33.0) | 21.3 (11.0 to 33.0) | 3.4 (−5.9 to 12.2) |
| Adult obesity, % | 27.5 (19.0 to 34.0) | 30.7 (21.0 to 39.0) | 32.1 (21.0 to 42.7) | 4.5 (−3.0 to 13.0) |
| High pollution days, % | 4.7 (0.0 to 24.3) | 1.3 (0.0 to 9.3) | 6.2 (0.0 to 34.6) | 1.5 (−16.5 to 26.3) |
| Median home value 2015, $US | 158 526.7 (60 822.4 to 462 389.7) |
143 960.4 (63 335.6 to 371 204.1) |
129 446.3 (55 081.0 to 293 371.5) |
−29 080.4 (−192 909.3 to 45 054.4) |
| Dependent Outcome Variables | ||||
| Life expectancy at birth, age-standardized years | 76.8 (72.5 to 80.5) | 77.7 (73.2 to 81.5) | 77.8 (72.9 to 82.0) | 1.0 (0.1 to 1.9) |
| Age-adjusted deaths per 100 000 population | ||||
| Cancer | 214.1 (162.2 to 271.7) | 204.2 (149.8 to 264.1) | 206.9 (148.2 to 273.6) | −7.2 (−21.9 to 8.0) |
| Cardiovascular disease | 317.2 (215.7 to 439.7) | 278.4 (185.4 to 397.2) | 277.6 (179.6 to 406.6) | −39.6 (−66.6 to −12.9) |
| Infectious diseases | 38.8 (22.2 to 63.2) | 34.6 (18.3 to 58.8) | 34.8 (17.0 to 61.4) | −4.0 (−9.9 to 2.7) |
| Respiratory tract diseases | 62.3 (38.1 to 93.1) | 62.1 (35.5 to 95.0) | 64.2 (34.3 to 102.2) | 1.8 (−7.5 to 13.7) |
| Substance use or injury | 30.4 (16.3 to 53.8) | 33.3 (17.4 to 59.8) | 35.5 (17.9 to 64.7) | 5.1 (−1.3 to 15.1) |
| Interpersonal violence | 5.3 (1.6 to 15.2) | 4.9 (1.5 to 14.6) | 5.0 (1.6 to 14.7) | −0.3 (−1.9 to 0.7) |
a
Owing to rounding of displayed values in the table, within-county differences may differ at the tenths place from a simple subtraction of the second and fourth columns.
b
Physician counts are specific to the subset of physicians who list patient care as their primary occupational activity.
c
Absolute percentage.
d
Determined at county level.