Which areas of the U.S. have the worst cancer death rates? The worst rate for diabetes? How about obesity or binge drinking or suicide?
Last week a study published in JAMA highlighted the geographical disparities within the U.S. regarding cancer death rates. Researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation looked at the country's more than 19.5 million cancer deaths in every one of 3,144 U.S. counties from 1980-2014. The study found that while the overall cancer mortality rate decreased by about 20 percent, in 160 counties the rate actually increased.
More findings here. But what we really wanted to highlight is that the research gives us another opportunity to take a look at the institute's interactive U.S. Health Map, into which the cancer data has now been incorporated. The map was launched in 2013 with a look at mortality rates by county, and the institute has supplemented it with additional data as more research was conducted. Big data geeks, health researchers, and those with a morbid propensity to delve into who-dies-where-from-what have been parsing the data, which includes live expectancy, mortality rates and different risk factors, ever since.
Click on the image for the map. Not a great experience on mobile, so you may want to bookmark or send to yourself for later viewing.
Want to know who dies where from what? Behold the interactive U.S. National Health Map, which categorizes each and every U.S. death into each and every county. The map can tell you which areas of the country have the lowest life expectancy, which suffer the highest rates of binge drinking or suicide, and enough other information to satisfy even the most voracious consumer of morbidity and death data.