Connecticut

Connecticut is eighth this year; it was sixth in 2003 and has always been in the top 10 states since 1990. It is in the top 10 states for 13 of the 18 individual components, including third for a low rate of motor vehicle deaths at 1.0 deaths per 100,000,000 miles driven, third for a low percentage of children in poverty at 10.1 percent of persons under age 18 and fourth for a low prevalence of smoking at 18.6 percent of the population. A challenge for Connecticut is low support for public health with 1.5 percent of the state health budget allocated to public health. The state ranks 10^th for the combined measures of risk factors and seventh for the combined measures of outcomes, implying a continued strong ranking for the state in the future. Health disparities, as indicated by access to adequate prenatal care, are not as severe as in many states. However, when using premature death rates as an indicator of disparity, non-Hispanic blacks lose 11,028 years of potential life before age 75 per 100,000 population compared to Asian/Pacific Islanders and American Indians who lose 2,506 years and 5,090 years per 100,000 population, respectively.

In the past year, the infant mortality rate declined from 6.3 to 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, the premature death rate declined from 6,499 to 6,297 years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population and per capita public health spending decreased from $53 to $18 per person.

Since 1990, the prevalence of smoking has dropped from 29.6 percent to 18.6 percent of the population, the violent crime rate has decreased from 419 to 311 offenses per 100,000 population and the rate of cancer deaths has declined from 203.9 to 193.6 deaths per 100,000 population.

To learn more about health and health initiatives in Connecticut, visit the Connecticut state department of health Web site at: www.dph.state.ct.us/

A dash (--) indicates data not available.
* Data sources and/or methdology may not be comparable for this year.