Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death in California and have become among the most common, costly, and often preventable of all health problems. Chronic Conditions of Californians reports that in 2003, 11.5 million California adults over age 18 were living with one or more chronic conditions including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, or fair/poor health status. In addition, 1.9 million children ages 1-17 were living with asthma or fair/poor health status.

This report presents data on each chronic condition as well as on summary indicators for California counties and Los Angeles County SPAs. It also presents the socioeconomic and demographic profiles of those with chronic conditions, and the actual access problems and potential barriers to obtaining health care of all persons in those areas. A summary index of chronic conditions and these access indicators suggest areas in the state with the greatest overall burden from chronic conditions on local health systems. Overall, the Colusa/Glenn/Tehama county group, Kern County, Madera County, and Merced County had the worst chronic illness related summary indicators.

Supplemental exhibits offer confidence intervals for all data found in the report, a map of the chronic conditions index among children ages 1-17 living with asthma or fair/poor health status, additional regional data on limited English proficiency and uninsured rates per chronic condition among adults, uninsured rates among children with asthma, and selected population characteristics among adults and children.

This data is a useful tool for health planners and policy makers with which to target public health interventions and plan health service provision.

Falls, disability and hunger are surprisingly common aspects of life for California seniors, according to this policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. More than one out of five California seniors experience one or more of these issues which – separate from medical conditions often related to aging – present significant challenges to independent living. Using data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey, the authors look at the prevalence of falls, disability, and hunger among California seniors, and then analyze how these issues relate to each other. The authors also identify relationships between these issues and incident of chronic health conditions, income, and race/ethnicity.

This new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research presents diabetes prevalence rates among adults by California Assembly and Senate districts. These data are relevant to policymakers and advocates concerned with the impact of chronic conditions on the health of Californians. Estimating the prevalence of diabetes at the local level is increasingly important as rates continue to climb and the state's population continues to age and become more ethnically diverse. Diabetes prevalence rates were estimated using a small-area methodology with data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001), 2000-2002 Current Population Surveys (CPS) and 2000 Census.

This policy brief highlights the geographic variations in hypertension rates among California adults for counties, county-groups, Los Angeles Service Planning Areas, as well as for state legislative and Congressional districts. The first-of-its-kind sub-county data in this publication are useful for policy makers, advocates and medical providers in understanding the burden of the condition in local communities across California. Hypertension rates were estimated by applying a small-area methodology to multiple data sources, including the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001), 2000-2002 Current Population Surveys, and the 2000 Census.

This policy brief highlights regional variations of rates among California children ages 0-5 and ages 6-17 from limited income families (below 300% FPL) who were uninsured and not eligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy families in 2001. This Web-only publication is relevant to policy makers and children health advocates who work on health access and children’s issues at the local level. These data are particularly pertinent as public-private partnerships have emerged across California to provide health care coverage for this vulnerable population. Rates of uninsured-and-not eligible children were estimated using the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001).

This policy brief highlights the geographic variations in obesity and overweight rates among California adults for counties, county-groups, Los Angeles Service Planning Areas, as well as for state legislative and Congressional districts. The first of-its-kind sub-county data are useful for policy makers, advocates, and health professionals in understanding the severity of unhealthy weight among adults throughout California and within local communities. Obesity rates were estimated by applying a small-area methodology to multiple data sources, including the 2003 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2003), 2000-2002 Current Population Surveys, and the 2000 Census.

This policy brief highlights the geographic variations in asthma rates among all Californians for state legislative and Congressional districts. The information is particularly relevant at this time as new asthma cases continue to arise in the population. The first of-its-kind sub-county data are useful for policy makers, advocates, and medical providers who are working to address the growing problem of asthma throughout California and within local communities. Asthma symptom rates were estimated by applying a small-area methodology to multiple data sources, including the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001), 2000-2002 Current Population Surveys, and the 2000 Census.

This policy brief highlights the geographic variations in self-reported poor/fair health status, asthma and hypertension rates among uninsured Californians for counties, county-groups, Los Angeles Service Planning Areas, as well as for state legislative and Congressional districts. The first-of-its-kind sub-county data in this publication are useful for policy makers, advocates and medical providers in understanding the burden of selected access-sensitive chronic conditions in local communities across California. The rates reported in this policy brief are estimates created by a small-area methodology, based on rates from CHIS 2001 that are applied to population data from the 2000 Census and 2002 California Department of Finance.