29-County Eastern North Carolina Compared to the Rest of the State (revised 02/17/12)
In 2009, 23.6% of Eastern North Carolinians reported their health as “poor or fair” compared to 17.2% of citizens in the rest of the state.1
Age-adjusted death rates are substantially greater in Eastern North Carolina than the rest of the state for virtually all major causes of death.2
- Heart disease mortality is 11% greater
- Cancer (all sites) mortality is 11% greater
- Lung cancer mortality is 12.6% greater
- Colon cancer mortality is 14% greater
- Diabetes mortality is 44% greater
- Stroke mortality is 16.1% greater
- COPD mortality is 12.9% less
- Unintentional motor vehicle injuries mortality is 26.6% greater
- Other Unintentional injuries mortality is 5.8% greater
- Homicide mortality is 23.7% greater
- Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis mortality is 21% greater
- Septicemia mortality is 7.9% greater
- Pneumonia and influenza mortality is 3.6% greater
- Suicide is .1% greater
In terms of premature mortality (i.e., years of life lost before age 75), the 2007 US data3 indicate North Carolina ranks 38th among the 50 states.
If the 29-county Eastern North Carolina region were a state, it would rank 45th; above Oklahoma, Arkansas, West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the District of Columbia. If the rest of North Carolina (71 counties) were considered alone, it would rank 35th, with a rate most similar to Missouri’s.
The rates and ranks for 2007 are as follows:
| Region | Rate | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 516.3 | 1st |
| The rest of NC (71 counties) | 781.7 | 35th |
| NC | 803.3 | 38th |
| ENC (41 counties) | 929.4 | 45th |
| ENC (29 counties) | 933.3 | 45th |
| Mississippi | 1078.8 | 51st |
| District of Columbia | 1101.9 | (worse than any state) |
| United States | 708.7 |
1 North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 2009. Statistically significant at p=.05, 95% CIs for Eastern NC and Rest of NC are 18.8 – 29.1 and 16.1 – 18.5, respectively.
2 Mortality rates per 100,000 for the year 2009 and age-adjusted to the US 2000 standard million (from NC SCHS’s Vital Statistics accessed via UNC—Chapel Hill’s Odum Institute).
3 Premature mortality (before age 75) rates per 10,000 for the year 2007 and age-adjusted to the US 2000 standard million (from NCHS’s Compressed Mortality Files 1999-2007).