Evaluating Heart Disease Prescriptions -- Filled As A Proxy For Heart Disease Prevalence Rates

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Yet, prevalence rates are not reported at the county level. Not knowing how many have the disease, and where they are, may be a knowledge barrier to effective health care interventions. We use heart disease drug prescriptions-filled as a proxy...

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Published inJournal of health and human services administration Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 503 - 528
Main Authors Cossman, Ronald E, Cossman, Jeralynn S, James, Wesley L, Blanchard, Troy, Thomas, Richard K, Pol, Louis G, Cosby, Arthur G, Mirvis, David M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.04.2008
Subjects
Heart disease
Prescriptions
United States
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Summary:Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Yet, prevalence rates are not reported at the county level. Not knowing how many have the disease, and where they are, may be a knowledge barrier to effective health care interventions. We use heart disease drug prescriptions-filled as a proxy measure for prevalence of heart disease. We test the correlation to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and find positive, statistically significant correlations. Next we illustrate the geographic patterns revealed using the county-level prevalence estimate maps. This information can be used to provide a better understanding of sub-state variations in disease patterns and subsequently target the delivery of health resources to small areas in need. Adapted from the source document.
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ISSN:1079-3739