Healthy Equity for All Missourians:African-American and Hispanic Health Disparities in Missouri

Ryan Barker, MSW, MPPAVice President of Health PolicyMissouri Foundation for Health

12/4/13

Health Equity Series• Third set of Data Books issued by MFH on

African American and Hispanic Health Disparities in Missouri• 2006 and 2009

• LGBT Health Disparities

Available at: www.mffh.org/content/9/publications-and-

reports.aspx

Before the Data…

Some Thoughts:

• The Joy of Data

• The Pitfalls of Data

• Data as a Beginning…

African Americans in Missouri

• 735,000 African Americans in MO (12.3% of population)

• 78% live in 3 counties• St. Louis City, St.

Louis & Jackson County

Hispanics in Missouri• 212,470 Hispanics

(3.5% of population)

• Largest concentrations are in Jackson & St. Louis County

• 19.5% of Hispanics live in rural areas

Age-Gender Distributions

Income Comparisons

Health Insurance• Higher proportions of Hispanics and

African Americans are uninsured

• Of the 800,000 uninsured Missourians:• 70.8% are White

• 15.9% are African American

• 8.0% are Hispanic

• 5.2% are other race/ethnicity

Education & Employment

Unhealthy Behaviors• Smoking and physical

inactivity are major risk factors for chronic diseases.

• Smoking rates are similar, but significantly higher than US rate of 19%.

Maternal & Child Health

There are significant differences between African Americans and Whites on these indicators

Rates for African Americans are more than double those for Whites.

• Overall rate of Infant Death held steady in Whites, but increased in African Americans since 2006

Infant Death Rates

Communicable Diseases

• Communicable Diseases is the health issue with some of the greatest disparities between African Americans and Whites

• Rates of TB have decreased for both African Americans (20%) and Whites (50%)

Chlamydia Case RatesMissouri, 2007-2011

• Chlamydia rates have increased for both groups and are particularly high in Kansas City & St. Louis

Gonorrhea RatesSignificant drop, but major disparity still exists

Emergency Room Visits

Hispanics had lower rates of ER visits compared to Whites for all indicators

However, significant disparities exist for African Americans

Emergency Room Visits

Mental health related ER visits increased for both African Americans (27%) and Whites (55%) from 2001 to 2010.

African American males have 50% more mental health related ER visits than females

Emergency Room Visits

Leading Causes of Death

African Americans• Heart Disease

• Cancer

• Stroke

• Unintentional Injury

• Homicide

Hispanics• Heart Disease

• Cancer

• Unintentional Injury

• Stroke

• Diabetes

Contact Information:

Ryan Barkerrbarker@mffh.org

314-345-5510