The report completes a core function of public health: surveillance and data collection, analysis and interpretation for disease prevention and control. While there are different data sets available that highlight different statistics, there isn't a central source that reports the County health statistics across a broad set of health conditions and concerns. The goal is to present the data to the community so that it can serve as a source of knowledge, bring attention to areas of success and weakness, and potentially serve as a basis for further analysis by stakeholders to design appropriate programming and interventions to address gaps in outcomes.
Though health outcomes in Montgomery County performed better than state and national averages, there are several health conditions with increasing trends and disparities by race/ethnicity, age, sex and geographic areas that warrant special attention.
Findings of the report include:
- The County's population is becoming more diverse over time; the non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic populations have increased while the non-Hispanic White population has decreased.
- Births to adolescent mothers in the county have decreased over time and the county's rates are consistently lower than those in Maryland and the U.S.
- The leading causes of death in the county were cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, accidents and chronic lower respiratory disease.
- Though heart disease mortality has decreased in the County; heart disease-related emergency room (ER) visit rates increased; however, the County had lower rates of mortality and ER visits than those in Maryland. Non-Hispanic Blacks had the highest mortality and ER visit rates.
- Tuberculosis rates in the county were consistently higher than in Maryland and the U.S. Asian/Pacific Islanders had the highest rates.
- Though substance-abuse related ER visit rates were consistently lower than in Maryland, the substance-abuse related ER visit rates and drug-induced mortality rates in the county increased over time. Non-Hispanic Whites and person ages 18 to 34 had the highest rates.
- Motor vehicle-related mortality and hospitalization rates decreased in the County. County rates were consistently lower than in Maryland; non-Hispanic Blacks and person ages 18 to 34 had the highest ER visit rates.
