Introduction: We examined whether spatial clusters of county-level diagnosed diabetes prevalence exist in the United States and whether socioeconomic and diabetes risk factors were associated with these clusters. Materials and Methods: We used estimated county-level age-adjusted data on diagnosed diabetes prevalence for adults in 3109 counties in the United States (2007 data). We identified fou...

PROBLEM/CONDITION Suicide is a public health problem and one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States. Substantial geographic variations in suicide rates exist, with suicides in rural areas occurring at much higher rates than those occurring in more urban areas. Understanding demographic trends and mechanisms of death among and within urbanization levels is important to develo...

BACKGROUND Cigarette smoking is a leading risk factor for morbidity and premature mortality in the United States, yet information about smoking prevalence and trends is not routinely available below the state level, impeding local-level action. METHODS We used data on 4.7 million adults age 18 and older from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 1996 to 2012. We derived ...

The epidemiology of Pierce's disease of grape (Vitis spp.) in California has changed over the past 10 yr due to the introduction of an exotic vector, Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar), the glassy-winged sharpshooter. Although this insect is highly polyphagous, citrus (Citrus spp.) is considered a preferred host and proximity to citrus has been implicated as a significant risk factor in recent ep...

OBJECTIVES This report details development of the 2013 National Center for Health Statistics' (NCHS) Urban-Rural Classification Scheme for Counties (update of the 2006 NCHS scheme) and applies it to health measures to demonstrate urban-rural health differences. METHODS The methodology used to construct the 2013 NCHS scheme was the same as that used for the 2006 NCHS scheme, but 2010 census-ba...