Report: Overall,
Hawaii residents
healthiest in nation

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Islanders are healthier than Americans as a whole, but Hawaii's health status is tarnished by higher than average suicide rates, alcohol consumption, hepatitis C and tuberculosis.

These are among the findings in the fourth edition of "Health Trends in Hawaii: A Profile of the Health Care System."

Data from 26 public and private Hawaii organizations were compiled for the publication, released by the Hawaii Medical Service Association Foundation and Hawaii Health Information Corp.

"The message overall is a good one," said foundation Director Maia Rogers. "But if you look at breakdowns by geographic and ethnic groups, it's not so good."

Hawaii has the nation's longest average life span, but Hawaiian males are expected to live fewer years than the average person, she noted.

The average life span here is 79 years, compared with the U.S. average of 75. Chinese women have the longest average life span -- 86.11 years -- while native Hawaiian men have a life expectancy of 71.48 years.

Rogers said she was surprised that psychosis is the most common reason for hospitalization of children ages 13 to 14, and that suicide is the leading cause of death for teen through middle-age groups, from 15 to 44 years old.

Cliff Cisco, HMSA senior vice president, said the statistics look better than past studies, but the suicide rate among teen-agers "is always a shock to me." The data perhaps will call attention to teen problems, he said.

Hawaii's children are healthier than those on the mainland, according to the report. The infant mortality rate here is 15 percent lower than the national rate, due largely to women receiving prenatal care.

But 41 percent of the state's uninsured residents are children compared with 25 percent on the mainland, the report points out.

Cisco said the health study this year focused on children. "We're trying to identify the number of children who are uninsured in the state and develop policies and programs that address that."

Even with the state's QUEST health-care plan, a large number of children haven't been reached, he said.

Substance abuse and smoking among young people continue to be a big concern, Cisco said. He expressed hope that those issues can be addressed with money coming to the state from the settlement of a lawsuit against tobacco companies.

The study two years ago looked closely at the elderly population, and again is highlighted in the latest report, Cisco added.

"Aging of Hawaii is accelerating," he said. "That implies that we're going to have issues about long-term care, and generally care of the elderly is going to be more and more important."

The long-term bed supply has increased along with the elderly population, according to the study. The state reported 615 long-term care beds being developed or completed in 1997, Rogers said. "That's a good sign. Perhaps we are starting to prepare for the rapidly aging population."

The report has been widely distributed for research, planning and policy-making.

"I hope it doesn't just go on peoples' shelves," Rogers said.

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Higher number of
chronic, binge drinkers
among statistics

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii residents do more chronic and binge drinking than mainland people as a whole, according to "Health Trends in Hawaii: A Profile of the Health Care System."

A binge drinker is defined as someone who consumes five or more alcoholic beverages in one session, while a chronic drinker consumes 60 or more alcoholic beverages in 30 days.

Among other highlights of the 1999 report:

The proportion of elderly to Hawaii's total population increased from roughly 5 percent in 1960 to 13 percent in 1997.

The proportion of youth to the total population dropped from 43 percent in 1960 to 28 percent in 1997.

Hawaii's overall death rate increased 27 percent from 1970 to 1997, reflecting a larger elderly population. But the death rate in 1997 was 24 percent lower than the national rate.

The birth rate declined 31 percent from 1970 to 1997, from 21.2 births per 1,000 population to 14.6. Reasons cited: fewer women of child-bearing age, preference for fewer children and delays in having children.

Hawaii's mortality rates for major diseases were lower than the U.S. rates as a whole except for breast cancer and suicide.

Heart disease was the leading cause of death among men and women in Hawaii and the nation in 1997.

Hawaii rates of hepatitis A and C -- vaccine-preventable communicable diseases -- were higher in 1997 than national rates. The hepatitis C rate was nearly 11 times higher than the U.S. rate.

Hawaii rates of measles, mumps and rubella were higher than U.S. rates in 1997; the pertussis rate was lower.

Hawaii in 1997 had the highest number of tuberculosis cases in the nation -- 14.1 cases compared with 7.4 cases per 100,000 population.

Acute-care hospital charges in 1997, not including physician charges, totaled about $1.6 billion. The average charge statewide for an acute-care hospital stay was $2,322 per day.