Use of Peer Groupings to Assess County Public Health Status
2008

Assessing County Public Health Status Using Peer Groupings

Sample size: 3082 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Norma Kanarek, Ron Bialek, Jennifer Stanley

Primary Institution: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Hypothesis

How can peer groupings of counties be used to assess community health status?

Conclusion

The study found that peer groupings are effective for assessing and comparing community health status across counties.

Supporting Evidence

  • 88 peer groupings were developed with an average size of 35 counties each.
  • Peer groupings included counties from at least 6 states.
  • The project aimed to provide county-specific health status reports.

Takeaway

This study shows that grouping similar counties together helps us understand how healthy a community is compared to others.

Methodology

Counties were grouped based on demographic variables to create peer groupings for health assessment.

Limitations

The peer groupings may not capture all relevant health factors and need to be updated periodically.

Participant Demographics

Counties from various states with diverse populations were included.

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