Six in 10 adults in the U.S. have a chronic disease, and four in 10 have two or more.

Chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer, require ongoing medical attention and are the leading drivers of the nation’s health care costs.

Explore Chronic Diseases

Click to view

pregnant Patient getting her Blood Pressure

Diabetes

The national diabetes rate has grown significantly throughout the last 35 years. Between 1980 and 2014, the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes increased fourfold from 5.5 million to 22 million, with every state having at least 5% of the age-adjusted adult population afflicted with diabetes. According to the Diabetes Advocacy Alliance, by 2025, 53.1 million Americans will have diabetes — a 63% increase from the number with diabetes today.

MHA Reports

Diabetes: An Opportunity for Population Health Improvement

The increasing rate of diabetes is not inevitable. However, reducing the rate of diabetes will require a better understanding of patient and population risks, and a more integrated and intensive clinical approach to deliver the right interventions to the right patients at the right time.

READ THE diabetes REPORT

How Diabetes Affects Missouri Communities Differently: Opportunities to Promote Health Equity

Health disparities are powerful determinants of poor health outcomes and excessive health expenditures in the U.S. Diabetes has a significant direct and indirect role in health disparities. Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death for the entire population in the U.S. The risk of premature death from heart disease or stroke is 50 percent higher for black males than for white males. Moreover, there is a strong correlation between diabetes and cardiovascular health. Cardiovascular death rates are 2 to 4 times higher for individuals with diabetes, and the primary cause of death for 65 percent of all patients with diabetes is heart disease or stroke.

Read the report

Heart Disease

Heart disease is commonly misconstrued as a men’s health issue, but for the last 30 years it has killed more women than men in the U.S. In fact, heart disease causes one out of every three deaths among women every year, which is more than all forms of cancer combined. It is estimated that 43 million women in the U.S. (27%) are affected by heart disease and 90% of all women have at least one risk factor for developing the disease.

MHA Reports

A Two-Part Series in Women’s Health

Part One: The Importance of Health Insurance Coverage

Health insurance coverage plays a critical role in the health status of women. Having coverage expands affordability and access to health care services. In addition to limiting access to care, women without health insurance coverage often experience lower standards of care when it is accessed, and face disparities in their health outcomes. Women who have health insurance coverage also utilize critical preventive care services such as mammographies and pap tests at significantly higher rates than women without coverage. As a result, breast and cervical cancer are often diagnosed at later stages among uninsured women when treatment is less efficacious.

Read the report

Part Two: Heart Health in Missouri

The number of heart disease diagnoses in Missouri hospitals has grown throughout the last 10 years at a significantly higher rate than the overall female population in the state. Overall, the incidence of heart disease diagnoses for Missouri women has increased by 37% since 2004. For women without insurance, the number of heart disease diagnoses has more than doubled for a 106% increase during the same period.

Read the Report

Obesity

With an estimated annual price tag of $117 billion and severe health consequences, obesity is a growing problem in the U.S. and Missouri. In 2014, Missouri was ranked among the top 20 most obese states in the country. And, recent research estimates that more than 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. are obese, as signaled by a body mass index of 30 or higher.

MHA Reports

A Study of 22,000 Missourians Diagnosed with Morbid Obesity in 2008

According to self-reported data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the rates of adult obesity are higher in the Midwest than any other region in the country. According to the survey, last year Missouri was ranked among the top 20 states for the prevalence of adults with obesity (30.2%). Evaluating obesity data available at the county level in Missouri reveals a large degree of county-by-county variation with a range of 20.5% in Nodaway County to more than 50% of adults self-reporting obesity status in New Madrid County.

READ THE Obesity REPORT

Asthma

With 6.8 million annual visits nationally, respiratory system disorders are second only to injury and poisoning as the primary cause of pediatric emergency department visits. Asthma is the most commonly diagnosed chronic condition for pediatric patients in hospital settings in Missouri. Throughout fiscal year 2014, more than 304,000 Missouri children ages 0 to 17 were treated in a hospital, with more than 847,000 encounters. More than 27,000 — 9% of these children — were diagnosed with asthma during the year.

MHA Reports

Hospital Utilization for Pediatric Asthma in Missouri

sthma is an ambulatory care treatable condition that accounts for more than 1 in 4 hospitalizations that originate in the ED for children under the age of 10. The prevalence and costs associated with pediatric asthma in the U.S. are increasing. A recent study estimated that pediatric asthma ED visits cost Medicaid programs across the country more than $272 million in 2010. The same study placed the Medicaid burden of pediatric asthma ED visits in Missouri at 15th highest in the nation, while the total number of children covered by Medicaid in Missouri was 18th highest.

READ THE Pediatric Asthma REPORT

Innovative Care Delivery Models for Children with Asthma in Missouri

This report focuses on innovations designed to improve the health outcomes and quality of life for children with asthma in Missouri from the hospital, provider, education, law-making and public health communities in the state. With more than 10 million school days missed in the U.S. every year because of the disease, asthma is one of the major drivers of absenteeism for students.

School nurses in Missouri work with hospitals, universities, the Missouri Asthma Prevention and Control Program, policymakers and community stakeholders to develop innovative approaches to improve health outcomes and safety for Missouri school children with asthma.

READ THE REPORT

Chronic Diseases

Six in 10 adults in the U.S. have a chronic disease, and four in 10 have two or more.

Diabetes

Heart Disease

Obesity

Asthma

Alison Williams