David Eichenthal

In Hamilton County the Alzheimer’s disease death rate is twice as high as the nation’s, according to the latest report by the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies, formerly the Community Research Council.

That statistic is one of many compiled in the latest installment of the group’s 2008 State of the Chattanooga Region Report. The newest report is focused on health and will be posted on the Ochs Center Web site today, researchers said.

The report, crammed with local data on topics such as leading causes of death, obesity, TennCare use and sexually transmitted disease rates, provides a follow-up to a similar 2006 analysis. The information is drawn from federal, state and local data sources, as well as surveys of Hamilton County residents by the Ochs Center.

“Our general theory is that the public policymakers make better decisions when they have more information available to them about the issues in our community. We hope we’re informing a larger debate and discussion in this case about health,” said David Eichenthal, president and CEO of the center.

The report also reveals that Hamilton County residents may be overly optimistic about their health status: Despite the fact that 62 percent of Hamilton County adults say they are in either excellent or very good health, age-adjusted death rates in the county are higher than the national rates by 13.7 percent. Heart disease, cancer and stroke top the list of death causes in Hamilton County, the report found.

Hamilton County’s death rate from Alzheimer’s was more than double the average for 12 other similarly sized “benchmark counties” across the country.

Chattanooga’s role as a retirement destination and its resources for the aging might draw residents who are more likely to get Alzheimer’s, Dr. John Standridge, a Chattanooga geriatrician and family practice physician. He also said more doctors here may be reporting Alzheimer’s as a cause of death while doctors in other regions might classify a similar patient as dying from complications of the disease, such as poor nutrition.

If there are really more cases of Alzheimer’s in Hamilton County, that underlines the need for more at-home care services and support for family members of those with Alzheimer’s, said Steve Witt, director of the Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability.

“As this disease continues, we can’t keep them all housed in facilities. There’s not enough public money to do that,” he said.

INFANT MORTALITY

Infant mortality also remains an area of extreme concern in Hamilton County, the report showed. Out of the 12 benchmark counties, Hamilton County had the second-worst rate of infant mortality, with 11.3 babies per 1,000 live births dying before their first birthdays. Those rates exceed the national average by more than 63 percent, the report said.

Since 2007 the health department has launched a concerted effort to prevent infant mortality by reaching out to women in the community.

“If our women aren’t healthy and they get pregnant, we’re looking at an unhealthy baby and the cycle continues,” said Jeannette Sebes McDonald, infant mortality reduction coordinator with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department. “Infant mortality isn’t just about babies dying. It’s really indicative of the health of our entire community.”

PERSISTENT DISPARITIES

Racial disparities persist in terms of health outcomes, the report showed,

In Hamilton County blacks are twice as likely as whites to be diabetic and twice as likely to be uninsured.

Assault and HIV/AIDS ranked in the top-10 for leading causes of death for blacks, but not whites, in Hamilton County, the report said.

For Mr. Eichenthal, that statistic in particular emphasizes the undeniable links between a population’s health outcomes and environmental factors such as crime rates.

“There’s a remarkable interrelationship there between crime issues and health issues that I don’t think policy makers fully appreciate sometimes,” he said. “We hope ... policy makers begin to think about how these different issues really connect.