Health Outcome Inequality in Cuyahoga County
editHealth outcome inequality in Cuyahoga County is the amount of disparity that Cuyahoga County has in terms of the health outcomes that the population of Cuyahoga experiences, such as premature death and low birth weight. Within Cuyahoga County, many factors are said to contribute to the overall inequality in health outcomes, including health behaviors, social & economic factors, and the physical environment. Compared to other counties in Ohio, Cuyahoga is currently ranked 65th out of 88 counties in health outcomes, and 6th in clinical care provided.[1]
For the past six years, Cuyahoga County has been among the thirty lowest counties in Ohio in terms of health outcomes. This measurement takes into account five major factors: premature deaths, percent of adults reporting poor or fair health, average amount of days in the past 30 days a person had poor health days, average amount of days in the past 30 days a person had poor mental health days, and low birth weight.[1]
Cuyahoga County simultaneously ranked among the top seven counties in Ohio in terms of clinical care for the past six years. This measurement included the percent of the population without health insurance, the ratio of population to the number of primary care physicians, the ratio of population to dentists, the ratio of population to mental health providers, and other statics used for measuring relative amounts of clinical care.[1]
In regards to other factors that may effect health outcomes, in the past six years, Cuyahoga County ranked better than 37th for health behavior, ranked worse than 66th for social and economic factors, and ranked worse than 70th for physical environment factors.[1]
When taking into account the health factors of clinical care, health behaviors, social and economic, and physical environment factors, Cuyahoga County currently ranks 50th in the state of Ohio. However, Cuyahoga also ranks 65th in terms of health outcomes. [1] This means that even with Cuyahoga County being ranked among the highest counties in terms of clinical care, that particular factor is not enough to bring Cuyahoga above even half of the other counties in Ohio.