Missouri health report: In the 114 counties, this problem tops the list.
On a new website launched in the state, anyone now can look up the some of the most pressing health problems down to the ZIP code.
The website is exploreMOhealth.org, and it was created with funding from the Missouri Foundation for Health and the MHA Health Institute, a nonprofit affiliated with the Missouri Hospital Association.
The site is aimed at helping the public, hospitals and public health officials identify the health needs of a community using ZIP code and county-level data. It uses data provided by the U.S. Census, the Missouri Foundation for Health and the Hospital Industry Data Institute.
Mat Reidhead, vice president for research and analytics for the Missouri Hospital Association, told the Missouri Public News Service they launched the site to make it easier to look up what health issues ZIP codes or neighborhoods in the state are dealing with.
"Typically, health-related data are limited to the county level and above," Reidhead told the Missouri News Service, "and it makes it really hard to identify which pockets of the population within different counties are really moving the population health needle in the wrong direction."
In Jackson County, the most prevalent health issues are depressive disorder, diabetes, asthma, cancer, COPD and angina or coronary heart disease, the Explore MO Health website reports.
Of Missouri's 114 counties, depressive disorder, or depression, appears to top the list everywhere.
The report for Jackson County also shows the top ranked ZIP codes based on a variety of health factors and health outcomes scores. ZIP codes that ranked high in health were 64113 in Kansas City, 64112 in Kansas City, 64064 in Lee's Summit, 64082 in Lee's Summit and 64086 in Lee's Summit.
The bottom ranked ZIP codes of Jackson County were all in Kansas City: 64101, 64128, 64127, 64130 and 64109.
The full report on Jackson County and surrounding counties can be viewed on the Explore MO Health website.
This story was originally published April 13, 2018 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Missouri health report: In the 114 counties, this problem tops the list.."