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Alaska
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Alaska (2009)
America’s Health Rankings™
Ranking:
Alaska is 34th this year; it was 32nd in 2008.
Strengths:
Strengths include a low percentage of children in poverty at 9.6 percent of persons under age 18, low levels of air pollution at 6.9 micrograms of fine particulate per cubic meter, strong public health funding at $171 per person and a low rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease at 235.8 deaths per 100,000 population.
Challenges:
Challenges include a high rate of uninsured population at 19.0 percent, a low high school graduation rate with 66.5 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years, high geographic disparity within the state at 19.4 percent, a high violent crime rate at 652 offenses per 100,000 population and a high occupational fatalities rate at 13.0 deaths per 100,000 workers. Alaska ranks lower for determinants than for health outcomes, indicating that overall healthiness may decline over time.
Significant Changes:
 to 62.4 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.  In the past five years, the rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease declined from 279.5 to 235.8 deaths per 100,000 population. In the past five years, the prevalence of smoking decreased from 26.2 percent to 21.5 percent of the population. In the past ten years, immunization coverage increased from 54.3 percent to 76.2 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations.
Health Disparities:
In Alaska, smoking is more prevalent among non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaskan Natives at 39.9 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 19.0 percent. Mortality rates vary considerably by race and ethnicity in Alaska, with 1,054.4 deaths per 100,000 population among American Indians and Alaskan Natives compared to whites, who experience 735.2 deaths per 100,000 population.
State Health Department Web Site: health.hss.state.ak.us
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Download this state summary as a PDF file
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New! Supplemental Measures
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America’s Health Rankings™ have been expanded to include 15 more state-specific measures of health, from Daily Vegetable and Fruit intake to Incidence of High Blood Pressure and Diabetes. GO
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View Supplemental Measures
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| Alaska - Core Measures | | | 2009 | 1990 | No. 1 | | Behaviors | Value | Rank | Value | Rank | State | | High School Graduation (Percent of incoming ninth graders) | 66.5 | 43 | - | - | 87.5 | | Prevalence of Obesity (Percent of population) | 27.0 | 29 | 13.4 | 42 | 19.1 | | Prevalence of Smoking (Percent of population) | 21.5 | 40 | 34.3 | 47 | 9.3 | | Prevalence of Binge Drinking (Percent of population) | 17.6 | 37 | - | - | 9.0 | | Community & Environment | | | | | | | Occupational Fatalities (Deaths per 100,000 workers) | 13.0 | 50 | 22.2 | 48 | 3.1 | | Infectious Disease (Cases per 100,000 population) | 15.8 | 30 | 92.2 | 49 | 2.4 | | Air Pollution (Micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter) | 6.9 | 5 | - | - | 4.8 | | Children in Poverty (Percent of persons under age 18) | 9.6 | 3 | 16.6 | 18 | 8.6 | | Violent Crime (Offenses per 100,000 population) | 651 | 44 | 455 | 29 | 117 | | Public & Health Policies | | | | | | | Lack of Health Insurance (Percent of population) | 19.0 | 46 | - | - | 5.4 | | Immunization Coverage (Percent of children ages 19 to 35 months) | 76.2 | 32 | - | - | 85.0 | | Public Health Funding (Dollars per person) | $170 | 3 | $- | - | $220 | | Clinical Care | | | | | | | Prenatal Care (Percent of pregnant women) | 56.8 | 48 | - | - | 86.1 | | Preventable Hospitalizations (Number per 1,000 Medicare enrollees) | 62.4 | 14 | - | - | 29.3 | | Primary Care Physicians (Number per 100,000 population) | 112.3 | 28 | - | - | 190.0 | | Health Outcomes | | | | | | | Premature Death (Years lost per 100,000 population) | 7898 | 32 | 9304 | 41 | 5595 | | Poor Physical Health Days (Days in the previous 30 days) | 3.4 | 21 | - | - | 2.7 | | Infant Mortality (Deaths per 1,000 live births) | 6.4 | 20 | 10.6 | 33 | 4.8 | | Poor Mental Health Days (Days in the previous 30 days) | 3.2 | 19 | - | - | 2.2 | | Geographic Disparity (Relative standard deviation) | 19.4 | 48 | - | - | 4.3 | | Cancer Deaths (Deaths per 100,000 population) | 185.7 | 17 | 200.6 | 30 | 144.7 | | Cardiovascular Deaths (Deaths per 100,000 population) | 235.8 | 5 | 350.6 | 8 | 212.6 | | | | Summation | | | | | | | All Determinants | -0.130 | 34 | -0.360 | 47 | 0.827 | | All Outcomes | 0.039 | 28 | 0.111 | 25 | 0.348 | | Overall | -0.091 | 34 | -0.248 | 37 | 1.064 |
| Alaska - Supplemental Measures | | | 2009 | 1990 | No. 1 | | Behaviors | Value | Rank | Value | Rank | State | | Cholesterol Check (Percent of adult population) | 71.2 | 43 | - | - | 84.6 | | Recent Dental Visit (Percent of adult population) | 66.3 | 39 | - | - | 80.2 | | Daily Vegetables and Fruit (Percent of population) | 24.2 | 26 | - | - | 30.0 | | Physical Activity (Percent of adult population) | 75.9 | 21 | - | - | 81.9 | | Chronic Disease | | | | | | | Stroke (Percent of adult population) | 2.0 | 3 | - | - | 1.8 | | High Cholesterol (Percent of adult population) | 37.6 | 24 | - | - | 32.4 | | High Blood Pressure (Percent of adult population) | 24.9 | 7 | - | - | 19.7 | | Heart Attack (Percent of adult population) | 3.0 | 2 | - | - | 2.9 | | Cardiac Heart Disease (Percent of adult population) | 3.0 | 2 | - | - | 2.7 | | Diabetes (Percent of adult population) | 6.6 | 7 | - | - | 5.9 | | Economic | | | | | | | Per Capita Personal Income (Dollars per person) | $43321 | 7 | $21628 | 6 | $56248 | | Underemployment Rate (Percent) | 12.0 | 45 | - | - | 5.7 | | Annual Unemployment Rate (Percent) | 6.7 | 44 | 6.9 | 45 | 3.0 | | Median Household Income (Dollars per household) | $63989 | 4 | $60366 | 6 | $66176 | | August 2009 Unemployment Rate (Percent) | 8.3 | 23 | 7.1 | 47 | 4.3 | | Health Outcomes | | | | | | | Health Status (Percent report fair or poor health) | 14.3 | 24 | - | - | 10.7 |
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