Health Disparity Indicators for Mecklenburg County
Residents, 2007
Mortality - Deaths within a population and often used as a measure of health status for
a population.
Leading Causes of Death by Race 2007
Mecklenburg County
Whites
1) Cancer
2) Heart Disease
3) Alzheimer's Disease
4) Stroke
5) Unintentional Injury
6) COPD
7) Influenza & Pneumonia
8) Diabetes
9) Kidney Disease
10) Suicide
Other Races
1) Cancer
2) Heart Disease
3) Stroke
4) Unintentional Injury
5) Kidney Disease
6) HIV
7) Homicide
8) Diabetes
9) Alzheimer's Disease
10) COPD
While the three leading causes of death are similar among all racial groups, people of
other races often die at higher rates and younger ages than whites.
Cause-Specific Mortality: (Comparison of 2002-2006 5yr. Age-Adjusted Death Rates by
Race for Minorities and Whites for Mecklenburg County)*.
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Pancreatic Cancer: Mortality rate for Minorities is 1.6 times the rate for Whites
Prostate Cancer: Mortality rate for Minorities is 2.4 times the rate for Whites
Heart Disease: Mortality rate for Minorities is 1.4 times the rate for Whites
Stroke: Mortality rate for Minorities is 1.5 times the rate for Whites
Diabetes: Mortality rate for Minorities is 2.7 times the rate for Whites
Kidney Disease: Mortality Rate for Minorities is 2.7 times the rate for Whites
Homicide: Mortality Rate for Minorities is 3.5 times the rate for Whites
HIV Disease: Mortality rate is 12.4 times the rate for Whites
*Hispanics can be of any race so therefore they can be in both the numerator and denominator.
Source: NC DHHS/State Center for Health Statistics
Infant Mortality Rate:
Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) – number of resident infant deaths per 1,000 resident
live births for a particular year. The IMR represents the number of infants less than 1
year of age at risk of dying before the age of 1 year of all the infants born in a given
time period or specific year.
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The 2007 Infant Mortality Rate for Mecklenburg County is 6.5.
In 2007, the IMR for Minorities was 9.5 and for Whites 4.7.
The IMR for Minority infants is double the rate for White infants.
Source: NC DHHS/State Center for Health Statistics
Annual Infant Mortality Rates per 1,000 Live Births by Race
Mecklenburg County, 1990 through 2007
20
Whites
Other Races
18.1
Number of Infant Deaths per 1,000 Live Births
18
15.6 15.6
16
15.2
15.5
14
13.2
12.5
13.6
13.5
12
12
10.1
10
8
14.7
14.4
12.7
9.3
10.5
9.5
5.6
4.7
9
7.3
6.1
6.6
6.6
6.1
4.9
4
4
6.3
5.9
6
4.2
4.4
4.5
4
3.9
4.1
4.1
2
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Source: NC DHHS/State Center for Health Statistics
Prepared by the Mecklenburg County Health Department, Epidemiology Program, November 2007
Health Insurance Percentages for 2007 from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
System (BRFSS) for Mecklenburg County:
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17.7 % of Mecklenburg County Residents reported having no health insurance
coverage.
6.0% of Whites reported having no health insurance coverage.
35.9 % of Minorities reported having no health insurance coverage.
2007 data indicates the percentage of Minorities with no health insurance coverage is
5.9 times higher than that of Whites.
Source: NC DHHS/State Center for Health Statistics. Prepared by the Mecklenburg County Health Department, Epidemiology Program,
November 2008.
Visit www.meckhealth.org to learn more about local health statistics.