Strengths:

• Low prevalence of low birthweight & low infant mortality rate
• Low prevalence of sedentary lifestyle
• Low rate of preventable hospitalizations

 

Challenges:

• High rate of uninsured population
• Low immunization coverage
• Low per capita public health funding

 

Highlights:

• Almost 600,000 adults, or 19.7 percent of the adult population, smoke in Oregon.
• In the past five years, the high school graduation rate increased from 74.2 percent to 76.5 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate in four years.
• In the past five years, the infant mortality rate declined from 5.9 to 5.0 deaths per 1,000 live births.
• In the past ten years, the rate of preventable hospitalizations decreased 20 percent from 53.6 to 42.9 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• Last year, 16.8 percent of the population was uninsured; this year it is 14.9 percent.
• While Oregon’s sedentary lifestyle rate is one of the lowest in the U.S., there are still almost 600,000 sedentary adults in the state.

 

Disparities:

• In Oregon, sedentary lifestyle is more prevalent among Hispanics at 21.3 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 17.3 percent.

 

State Health Department Web Site: http://public.health.oregon.gov/