Deaths Due to Heart Disease Down 18% since 2008
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.

How is San Bernardino County Doing?
Heart Disease: Percentage Ever Diagnosed and Death Rates
San Bernardino County, 2008-2017
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Between 2016 and 2017, both heart disease prevalence and deaths increased:
- 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 and a one-year decrease of 1% since 2016.
- There has been a decrease in the percentage of county residents who were diagnosed with heart disease – from 8.2% in 2016 to 7.6% in 2017.2
- In 2017, San Bernardino County’s prevalence rate for heart disease was the highest among neighboring counties, except for Orange County, and higher than the state.
Diabetes: Percentage Ever Diagnosed and Death Rates
San Bernardino County, 2008-2017
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Diabetes prevalence and deaths rates are on the rise:
- In 2017, 14.6% of adults in San Bernardino County had been diagnosed with diabetes, the highest among all counties compared and California. 3
- This marks an increase from 2016, when diabetes prevalence was 11.4%.
- The long-term trend is also up, with an increase of four percentage points since 2009, when 10.6% of adults in the county had a diabetes diagnosis.
- At 34.5 age-adjusted deaths per 100,000 residents in 2017, San Bernardino County had the state’s third highest rate of deaths due to diabetes, behind only Imperial and Kern counties.
- Deaths due to diabetes increased from 33.2 per 100,000 residents in 2016 to 34.5 in 2017. The longer-term trend is also upward, increasing 13% since 2008.
High Blood Pressure: Percentage Ever Diagnosed and Death Rates due to Stroke
San Bernardino County, 2008-2017
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Between 2016 and 2017, prevalence of high blood pressure declined while deaths due to stroke increased:
- In 2017, 29.7% of adults in San Bernardino County had high blood pressure, which is in the middle among neighboring counties compared and higher than California.
- This marks a decrease of almost one and a half percentage points since 2016, when 31.1% of adults had high blood pressure.
- Of adults diagnosed with high blood pressure, 68% are currently taking medications to control their high blood pressure.
- Deaths due to strokes, which are associated with high blood pressure, increased 4% from 40.5 age- adjusted deaths per 100,000 in 2016 to 42.0 in 2017. 4 The long-term trend, however, is downward, with a 5% decline in deaths due to strokes since 2008.
Percentage Ever Diagnosed with Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, or Heart Disease
County Comparison, 2016
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Hospitalizations due to Coronary Heart Disease
In 2017, the hospitalization rate for heart disease in San Bernardino County was 85.1 per 10,000 residents (age-adjusted). This is significantly higher than the California hospitalization rate of 69.6 per 10,000 residents.
Heart Disease Hospitalizations (Age-Adjusted Rate per 10,000)
San Bernardino County, 2008-2017
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