Reported deaths from Alzheimer’s disease have increased by 54 percent since 2001, making it the fifth-leading cause of death in Hamilton County, behind heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease and stroke, local health department data shows.
The statistic is one of many details found in a comprehensive assessment of health in Hamilton County, presented to local officials Thursday at the Hamilton County Commission meeting.
The report, which is compiled every four years by health officials in cooperation with the area’s Regional Health Council, concluded that areas such as addiction, infant mortality, obesity and the need for health care reform should be among the top priorities for health advocates in coming years.
PDF: Hamilton County Health Outlook
“It helps us guide our efforts for targeted prevention and improving health care and then, hopefully, influence public policy,” Becky Barnes, administrator for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department, told the commissioners.
Better reporting and recognition of Alzheimer’s deaths, as well as an aging population, likely have played a role in the increase in reported deaths, said Kasey Decosimo, lead author of the report and assessment and planning program manager and health planner for the local health department.
Among the key data findings, average life expectancy in Hamilton County increased from 76 years in 1999 to 77.2 years in 2007, although self-reported general health status is sinking.
The number of Hamilton County adults reporting good or better health decreased from 80.4 percent in 1999 to 78.6 in 2007, Ms. Decosimo said in her presentation.
Almost two-thirds of Hamilton County residents are overweight or obese, and the proportion of residents who are obese has risen from 20 percent in 1999 to 27 percent in 2007, the report said.
Severe disparities along racial lines persist in a number of areas, including risk of death for cancer, diabetes and infant mortality. Those disparities are perpetuated by such factors as access to health care, education and income levels, Ms. Decosimo said.
The infant death rate for black babies is more than twice as high as that of white babies, with a rate of 16.9 deaths per 1,000 live births for black babies compared to 6.4 for white infants, the data said.
On the whole, Hamilton County had the second highest infant mortality rate of the four large metropolitan areas in Tennessee in 2007.
PRIORITY AREAS* Additions and dependency* Health care reform* Infant mortality* Obesity, diet and lack of exercise* Preventive care* School health* Tobacco
To address the region’s priority issues, health planners will initiate or continue targeted programs, such as working with the Governor’s Office of Children’s Care Coordination to address low birth weight babies and infant mortality, said Rae Bond, chairwoman of the Regional Health Council’s infant mortality reduction committee and executive director of the Chattanooga and Hamilton County Medical Society.
“We just have too many babies who are dying too soon,” Ms. Bond said.
One of health planners’ priorities listed in the report is advocating for health care reform. Changes in the current system are necessary to expand health insurance coverage in Hamilton County, where 12 percent are uninsured, the report said.
“We want to do what we can do at the local level” to bring about reforms, said Bill Ulmer, director for community health services for the local health department.