All around the world we hear about the use of big data, and how it can impact our life.
Well, today’s post is all about using this in something of a more novel way.
We have been sent countless links which aim to show just how “healthy” (or not) various regions of the United States really are.
A lot of these tap into publicly accessible data to do so, combining it to extremely interesting effect.
Let’s take a look at some of these use cases in greater detail.
Turn to Hawaii and California for a long life
Firstly, let’s look at those areas of the country which are likely to promote longer life expectancies. Hawaii and California both grab the mantle in this respect, with the attached link showing that those who were born in 2015 should have a life expectancy of around 81 in both states. This is in stark contrast the national average, which is 78.
The study notes some interesting points as well. For example, back in 1980, California was ranked in 20th position for the average life expectancy. It now has one of the lowest proportions of obesity and has dramatically turned around the lifestyle statistics.
In the form of Hawaii, this has been at the top consistently and its exceptionally low smoking and obesity rates probably aid this. It’s also interesting to note that a lot of residents don’t have health insurance (which may explain why their hospitalization rates are so low).
What about the healthiest city?
This next resource was initially put together by WalletHub, but it has been summarized excellently by the team at Advisory.com.
The study is formed around 170 metro areas in the United States and takes into account 43 different metrics to assess which are the healthiest and unhealthiest. Interestingly, some of these don’t come from official data. For example, it might be about the amount of green space, which is often associated with healthier lifestyles.
In terms of the results, San Francisco and Seattle were regarded as the two healthiest cities, while Fort Smith and Detroit were the two ranked at the bottom.
Source: https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2020/02/13/healthiest-cities
Let’s drill down into the cancer statistics
As we all know, one of the biggest killers around the world is cancer, with almost ten million people supposedly succumbing to the condition every year.
This is where this next resource comes into play.
YourLawyer.com have found out where you are most likely to get cancer, based on all available statistics. It found that a huge 1,135 people, per 100,000 will get the condition in Union County. However, if you were to switch to Ziebach County, this drops to 130 per 100,000.
It then breaks down the figures for different types of cancer, which again makes for interesting reading.
Source: https://www.yourlawyer.com/library/us-counties-with-highest-cancer-rates/
The healthiest cities for the elderly
The thing about all of the statistics we have spoken about is that you can go even more granular if you break the figures down.
This is the case with this next resource, put together by Cheapism. They took 34 different metrics into account, and found out that Mississippi was bottom of the charts, while Hawaii (notice any trends today?) was at the top.
It took into account everything from obesity, nursing home quality and even prescription drug coverage.
Source: https://blog.cheapism.com/healthiest-places-to-live-for-seniors/
Where is the most affordable healthcare?
This next source hasn’t been put together based on the cost of thermometers, or other so-called standard medical equipment.
Instead, it uses data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to calculate where in the country is most put off by seeking medical care due to cost concerns. While 20% of Texans are unable to afford health care, this figure drops to less than 8% for the people of Iowa. Iowa also happens to rank pretty well for the standard of care, so it’s not necessarily following the budget fix route.
Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/slideshows/states-with-the-most-affordable-health-care
