Avoyelles improves in health rankings survey

   Whether more Avoyelleans kept those New Year’s resolutions to be more healthy, or residents of other parishes slipped, the bottom line numbers of an annual “community health” survey showed the parish moving up in the parish-to-parish comparisons.

   The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s annual “County Health Rankings” shows Avoyelles ranked 48 out of the 64 parishes in Health Outcomes and 52nd in Health Factors. That compares to 54th in both categories last year.

    Avoyelles still ranks in the bottom tier of parishes when it comes to health-related issues, but it has shown improvements in most areas over the 2015 results.

   RWJ Foundation is the nation’s leading philanthropic organization dedicated solely to improving community health, especially rural community health. It helps many communities through its grants and with consultant services. 

    Rankings are based on statistics gathered by state and private organizations. The annual report figures may reflect actual statistics from two or three years ago.

   The improvement in “Health Outcomes” is primarily due to survey results that asked a number of individuals questions concerning their health and the number of days per month they have “poor physical health” and “poor mental health.” Avoyelles showed an average of 4.6 “poor physical health days” in the 2016 report, compared to 5.2 in 2015. However, it had 4.5 “poor mental health days,” compared to 3.6 in 2015.

    This is where worse results elsewhere may have helped Avoyelles’ overall ranking. 

    The state average was 4.3 poor physical health and 4.6 poor mental health days in the current report, compared to 3.8 and 3.5, respectively, in 2015.

 

    Avoyelles gets its lowest marks in “healthy behaviors,” where it ranks 58th out of the 64 parishes. That is slightly better than the 61st showing in 2015.

    According to the RWJ study, about 25 percent of Avoyelles Parish adults smoke. That is slightly above the state’s 24 percent result. The national goal is 14 percent.  

    Last year’s report showed 27 percent of Avoyelles adults smoked and 22 percent of the state’s adults were smokers. The national number did not change.

    The parish’s obesity rate was 39 percent in 2016. The state’s was 34 percent. The national goal is 25 percent.

    In 2015, Avoyelles’ was at 38 percent. The state and national numbers did not change.

   The rate for physical inactivity did not change from last year, with the parish showing 36 percent of adults were inactive compared to the state’s 30 percent.

   However, one of the parish’s biggest improvements was in “access to exercise opportunities,” with a 2016 showing of 27 percent compared to 2015’s 20 percent result.

   Another positive result was the reduction in percent of alcohol-related traffic fatalities. 

   In 2016 report, 42 percent of traffic deaths were related to alcohol -- still higher than the state’s 32 percent result. In 2015, 49 percent of Avoyelles’ traffic fatalities involved alcohol and 33 percent statewide were alcohol-related.  

   The 2016 report indicates Avoyelles has a higher rate of excessive drinking, but RWJ notes that this result should not be compared to prior years because they changed the way in which they compute that number. The 2016 report shows an 18 percent “excessive drinking” result, which is the same for the state overall and higher than the study’s national goal mark of 12 percent.

    Under the method used last year, Avoyelles was at 14 percent, the state was at 16 percent and the national mark was 10 percent.

    Teen births are still a “health behavior” problem for the parish, according to the survey results, even though the rate did not change from 2015.

   The RWJ study found that 73 out of every 1,000 live births in the parish were to women between the ages of 15 and 19. That compares to a state rate of 48 in 2016 and 50 in 2015. The national mark for the study is 19 in this year’s report and 20 in last year’s.

    The parish’s incidence of sexually transmitted diseases decreased slightly, from 536 per 100,000 population to 535.6. The state’s rate increased from 594 to 624.5.

 

    Another area that contributes to the parish’s overall low ranking in this study is the number of health providers in the parish. Avoyelles ranks 56th in the “clinical care” category of the report, up one spot from the 2015 report. The 2016 report showed only one primary care provider for every 3,440 people. 

    There was one dentist for every 4,110 people, which was the same for mental health providers. Those numbers compare to the state rates of 1,550 to 1 for primary care providers, 1,940 to 1 for dentists and 810 to 1 for mental health providers. In the 2015 report, the parish rates were 2,975 to 1 for primary care physicians, 4,130 to 1 for dentists and 4,589 to 1 for mental health providers.  The state was at 1,555 to 1, 1,976 to 1 and 859 to 1, respectively.

    The parish also showed some improvement in the comparison rankings in the socio-economic category, improving from 50 in 2015 to 47 in the 2016 report.

    The 2016 study shows a high school graduation rate of 72 percent, up from the 65 percent in the 2015 report. The state rate is 75 percent in this year’s report, up from 73 percent in last year’s.

    The parish’s violent crime rate of 573 incidents per 100,000 population is the same as last year’s report, as is the state’s 536 number.

    Injury deaths also remained unchanged for the parish at 83 per 100,000 population. This category includes traffic accidents, suicides and homicides. The state rate dropped from 75 to 74.

   Avoyelles’ physical environment is still its strongest category in the Community Health Rankings, but it fell from 6th to 11th this year primarily due to a change in the way RWJ rates water quality. 

   In this year’s report, the presence of even one water quality violation counts against the parish. In past year’s, the result was based on overall quality of water in the parish. 

  As is the case in any statistical study, the numbers are not ironclad Gospel pronouncements. The numbers are based on reports and are to be used only to provide communities with how they compare to other communities based on the available statistics and reports.

   The RWJ  Foundation states on its website that it offers “personalized, free help” to those with questions concerning issues addressed in the Health  Rankings at countyhealthrankings.org.