Wellness

Chronic Disease

Diabetes Deaths Up; Heart Disease Deaths Down

Chronic diseases – including diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease – are costly yet largely preventable. Chronic illnesses contribute to approximately 70% of deaths in the United States each year and account for about 75% of the nation’s health-related costs. 1 This indicator reports prevalence and death data for heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure/stroke. Also tracked are hospitalizations due to heart disease.

Highest Rates of Chronic Diseases Among Counties.

How is San Bernardino County Doing?

TREND

Heart Disease
There has been a decrease in the percentage of county residents who were diagnosed with heart disease – from 7.6% in 2017 to 5.1% in 2018.2 In 2017, San Bernardino County’s death rate due to heart disease was 184.7 age-adjusted deaths per 100,000 residents. This marks a decrease of 18% since 2008 in deaths due to heart disease and a one-year decrease of 1% since 2016.3

HEART DISEASE DEATHS INCREASED IN 2020

Heart Disease: Percentage Ever Diagnosed and Death Rates in San Bernardino County, 2011-2020

Sources: California Health Interview Survey, United States Department of Health and Human Services (US DHHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Compressed Mortality File (CMF) on CDC WONDER Online Database.

Diabetes

In 2018, 10.8% of adults in San Bernardino County had been diagnosed with diabetes. This marks a decrease from 2017, when diabetes prevalence was 14.6%.2 The long-term trend is relatively stable, with 10.6% of adults in the county with a diabetes diagnosis in 2009. Deaths due to diabetes increased from 34.5 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2017 to 35.1 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2018. The longer-term trend is also upward, increasing 19% since 2009.

BETWEEN 2019 AND 2020, DIABETES PREVALENCE AND DEATHS INCREASED

Diabetes: Percentage Ever Diagnosed and Death Rates in San Bernardino County, 2011-2020

Blood Pressure/Stroke4
In 2018, 29.5% of adults in San Bernardino County had high blood pressure—a rate similar to 2017 when 29.7% of adults had high blood pressure. Deaths due to strokes, which are associated with high blood pressure, increased 1%, from 42.0 age-adjusted deaths per 100,000 in 2017 to 42.4 in 2018. The long-term trend, is variable, but slightly downward, with a 3% decline in deaths due to strokes since 2009.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE PREVALENCE DECLINED IN 2020 WHILE DEATHS DUE TO STROKE INCREASED

High Blood Pressure: Percentage Ever Diagnosed and Death Rates due to Stroke in San Bernardino County, 2011-2020

GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL

San Bernardino County’s prevalence rate for heart disease was the lowest among neighboring counties and the state. However, for diabetes prevalence, at 10.8% in 2018, San Bernardino County had a rate of adults diagnosed with diabetes that was in the middle among counties compared and higher than the California rate. Also in 2018, 29.5% of adults in San Bernardino County had high blood pressure, second lowest among neighboring counties compared and lower than California.

COUNTY HAS HIGHEST RATE OF DIABETES AND HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

County Comparison of the Percentage Ever Diagnosed with Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, or Heart Disease, 2020

Source: California Health Interview Survey

Hospitalizations due to Heart Disease Increase in Recent Years

In 2020, the hospitalization rates for heart failure and hypertension in San Bernardino County were 341.2 and 38.2 per 100,000 residents (risk-adjusted), respectively. While these rates mark a decrease from 2016, they are higher than the California hospitalization rate of 297.2 and 34.8 per 100,000 residents for heart failure and hypertension, respectively.

Hospitalizations due to Heart Failure and Hypertension Declined in Recent Years

Source: HCAI Patient Discharge Data; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Prevention Quality Indicators, SAS Software, Version v2021 (2016-2020, ICD-10-CM)
1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/) 2Data for 2017 is considered unstable and should be interpreted with caution. 3The 2018 death rate for heart disease was not available by time of publication of this report. 4Fully 70% of strokes can be directly linked to existing high blood pressure, making high blood pressure the single most important controllable stroke risk factor.