Toward a Community Health
Report Card - Electronic Version

 

The Centers for Disease Control - "Consensus Set of Health Indicators for the General Assessment of Community Health Status - United States"

The Centers for Disease Control, catalyzed by Healthy People 2000 Objectives, convened a panel of experts in public health and developed a consensus set of 18 health status indicators "to assist communities in assessing their general health status and in focusing local, state, and national efforts in tracking the year 2000 objectives" (MMWR, 40;27:449). Their list, is as follows:

• Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births
• Total deaths per 100,000 population
• Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 population
• Work-related injury deaths per 100,000 population
• Suicides per 100,000 population
• Homicides per 100,000 population
• Lung cancer deaths per 100,000 population
• Female breast cancer deaths per 100,000 population
• Cardiovascular disease deaths per 100,000 population
• Reported incidence (per 100,000 population)
• AIDS
• Measles
• Tuberculosis
• Primary & secondary syphilis
• Percent of low birth weight infants
• Percent of mothers not receiving prenatal care in the first trimester
• Percent of children under 15 living in families at or below the poverty level
• Percent of people living in counties exceeding EPA standards for air quality
  

Subsequent to the development of this list of indicators, the National Center for Health Statistics, specified the data sources, rationale, and latest national rates for each of the 18 indicators  (NCHS, 1992). The Healthy People 2000 Review, 1993, provides updated national rates for each of the 18 indicators. The Texas Healthy People 2000 Health Indicators (TDH, 1995) provides rates for Texas for each of these 18 indicators.

 

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Prepared by

Carl H. Slater, M.D., Associate Professor, Health Services Organization University of Texas School of Public Health Houston, TX Phone:(713)500-9183  FAX:(713)500-9171. 
Email: [email protected]