41-County Eastern North Carolina Compared to the Rest of the State, 2009 (revised 02/17/12)

In 2009, 20.8% of Eastern North Carolinians reported their health as “poor or fair” compared to 17.04% 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 14% greater
• Cancer (all sites) mortality is 8% greater
• Lung cancer mortality is 9.4% greater
• Colon cancer mortality is 4.7% greater
• Diabetes mortality is 34% greater
• Stroke mortality is 7% greater
• COPD mortality is 6.4% less
• Unintentional motor vehicle injuries mortality is 37.6% greater
• Other Unintentional injuries mortality is 4.4% greater
• Homicide is 42.0% greater
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis mortality is 15.6% greater
• Septicemia mortality is 7% greater
• Pneumonia and influenza mortality is 4% less
• Suicide is 2.4% less

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 41-county Eastern North Carolina region were a state, it would rank 45th; above Oklahoma, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the District of Columbia.  If the rest of North Carolina (59 counties) were considered alone, it would rank 32nd, with a rate most similar to Maryland’s.

The rates and ranks for 2007 are as follows:

¹ North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 2009.  95% CIs for Eastern NC and Rest of NC are 18.0 – 23.9 and 15.7 – 18.4, 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).