According to the 2017 Community Health Status Survey (CHSS), sponsored by Interact for Health, the percentage of adults in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky diagnosed with some chronic illnesses declined in the region, while others remained stable.
Since 2013, the region saw a decline in the percentages of adults who had been told by a health care provider that they had high blood pressure, severe allergies, chronic lung disease and depression.
Specifically, the percentage of adults diagnosed with:
• High blood pressure declined from 34 percent to 30 percent
• Severe allergies declined from 17 percent to 14 percent
• Chronic lung disease declined from 8 percent to 6 percent
• Depression declined from 23 percent to 21 percent.
The percentage of adults who had been told they had asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart trouble, high cholesterol or stroke remained steady compared with 2013.
“While it is encouraging that many of these numbers have declined, the fact remains that many adults in our community suffer from chronic illness, and that can be a major burden for an individual or a household,” says O’dell Moreno Owens, M.D., M.P.H., President/CEO of Interact for Health. “This toll may be physical, emotional and financial, affecting many aspects of a person’s life.”
Adults in rural Northern Kentucky (Bracken, Carroll, Gallatin, Owen and Pendleton counties) reported higher rates of chronic illness than the region in heart disease (16 versus 10 percent); high blood pressure (43 versus 30 percent); and high cholesterol/triglycerides (33 versus 27 percent). Rural Northern Kentuckians also reported higher rates of severe allergies (19 versus 14 percent) and depression (26 versus 21 percent). Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties reported rates around the same as the region in all chronic conditions.
Low income adults more likely to be told they have chronic conditions
For all but one of these conditions, adults earning less than 100% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG)* were more likely to have been told they had that condition. As income rose, the percentage of adults diagnosed with the condition dropped. The exception was cancer. Slightly fewer than 1 in 10 adults of all income groups had been told they had cancer.
High blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, severe allergies more likely among African Americans; cancer and heart trouble less likely
African American adults were more likely than White adults to have been told they had diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma or severe allergies. The percentage of African Americans who had been told they had high blood pressure declined between 2013 (46 percent) and 2017 (39 percent). However, African American adults in 2017 were more likely than in 2013 to have been told they had asthma or severe allergies. In 2017, African American adults were less likely than White adults to be told they had cancer or heart trouble. Both conditions remained steady among African American adults between 2013 and 2017.
Rate of most chronic conditions increases with age
For seven of these conditions, rates increased as age increased, sometimes dramatically. This was true for cancer, chronic lung disease, diabetes, heart trouble or angina, high cholesterol or triglycerides, high blood pressure and stroke. Explains Dr. Owens, “This will have important ramifications for our health care system as the proportion of our population older than 65 continues to increase.”
More information about the region’s chronic conditions and other topics is available online.
*In 2015, 100% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines was $24,250 for a family of four; 200% FPG was $48,500.
