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Table 2 Characteristics of counties, by CHCs/RHCs in the county, studied states, 2002.

From: Association between community health center and rural health clinic presence and county-level hospitalization rates for ambulatory care sensitive conditions: an analysis across eight US states

 

Counties in studied states only, with:

All U.S. Counties

SID Sample, n = 579

CHC Only

 

RHC Only

Both CHC and RHC

 

Neither facility

 

Number of Counties:

59

 

139

27

 

354

3,168

Resources in county:

       

   MD/DO per 10,000 population

12.9

 

10.3

14.3

 

12.3

12.1

   Beds per 10,000 population

3.6

 

3.2

3.9

 

3.2

3.9

   Number of hospitals with emergency department

1.7

 

1.0

1.4

 

1.6

1.3

   HMO penetration rate

25.3

***

9.4

10.6

 

14.2

11.4

   ED visits per 1,000 population

337

 

372

382

 

330

351

   Non-metropolitan county (%)

23.7

***

79.9

66.7

***

58.8

65.3

Characteristics of county population:

       

   Percent of population that is:

       

African American

20.3

 

17.5

16.2

 

16.4

9.5

Hispanic white

6.4

 

6.6

7.7

 

6.4

5.3

Asian

1.7

 

1.6

3.5

 

2.1

1.0

American Indian/Native American

2.1

 

5.1

2.1

 

2.3

1.9

   Population change, 1990 – 2000 (%)

10.4

 

12.5

8.5

 

13.0

8.1

   Percent of population with less than a high school education

24.9

 

24.3

24.0

 

25.0

22.6

   Population per square mile

167

 

141

183

 

219

23

   Percent of population that is unemployed

7.3

 

6.8

6.3

 

7.0

7.1

   Percent uninsured, aged 18–64

19.0

 

20.8

22.1

**

18.9

19.6

   Percent uninsured, age 17 or less

12.0

 

12.9

13.3

*

11.4

12.4

   Median household income

35,595

 

35,179

36,835

 

35,844

35,363

Death rate per 10,000 due to:

       

   Cardiovascular disease

18.3

 

15.6

17.1

 

17.0

20.7

   Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

5.1

 

4.6

5.1

 

4.7

5.1

   Diabetes

2.6

 

2.2

 

2.2

2.2

2.8

   Liver disease

1.0

 

0.9

 

0.9

0.9

0.9

  1. Data Source: Authors' analysis using year 2002 State Inpatient Databases (8 states), and the 2002 Area Resource File (ARF). Note that ARF death rates are based on 3-year average. Statistical tests compare the indicated category to counties that have neither facility type; statistical tests are t-tests, except for the chi-square test for non-metropolitan counties (conducted as a single chi-square for all CHC/RHC combinations). Note: 3168 is the number of US counties in states. Excludes ARF counties from U.S. Territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, etc.).
  2. ***p < .001; **p < .01; *p < .05
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BMC Health Services Research

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