The Rankings

Rhode Island

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Strengths:

• High immunization coverage
• Low rate of uninsured population
• Ready availability of primary care physicians

Challenges:

• High prevalence of binge drinking
• High percentage of children in poverty
• High rate of preventable hospitalizations

Highlights:

• In the past year, the rate of preventable hospitalizations decreased from 74.1 to 70.0 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• In the past year, diabetes increased from 7.0 percent to 7.8 percent of adults. Now 65,000 Rhode Island adults have diabetes.
• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty decreased from 22.2 percent to 20.4 percent of persons under age 18.
• In the past ten years, obesity increased from 17.1 percent to 26.0 percent of adults, with 215,000 obese adults in the state.
• While smoking decreased from 23.4 percent to 15.7 percent of adults in the last ten years, 130,000 adults still smoke in Rhode Island.

Health Disparities:

In Rhode Island, obesity is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 35.6 percent and Hispanics at 30.9 percent than non- Hispanic whites at 23.3 percent. Diabetes also varies by race and ethnicity in the state; 10.9 percent of non-Hispanic blacks have diabetes compared to 7.3 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 7.6 percent Hispanics.

State Health Department Web Site: www.health.state.ri.us