Community Health Profile for King County, Seattle, Washington State

This community health profile provides a comprehensive overview of the health status of King County, Seattle, Washington State, USA. It begins with a brief overview of the county, including population size, median age, and income levels, and then delves into detailed demographic data, such as age distribution and racial composition. The report assesses general health status, including life expectancy, and compares it to state, national, and global averages. It examines maternal and child health, including infant mortality and low-birth-weight rates, highlighting the county's favorable statistics in these areas. The report identifies diabetes mellitus as a significant health issue, particularly among Black or African American residents, while also acknowledging the county's relatively lower rates compared to the state. The conclusion summarizes key findings, emphasizing the county's generally better health indicators compared to regional and national data, while also highlighting the need to address the prevalence of diabetes. The report is supported by references to relevant data sources such as the CDC and WHO.

Running head: HEALTH PROFILE
Community Health Profile for King County, Seattle Washington State, USA
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Community Health Profile for King County, Seattle Washington State, USA
Community health assessment is a vital process of collecting and interpreting data
from several sources to get an in-depth insight into the community health and conclude
inferences. In the United States of America, Healthy 2020 was a major initiative by the
federal government to induce cost-cutting measures and improve the standards of community
health (US Department of Health and Human Services., 2020). The broad ‘health goals’ for
the American population were determined by this initiative, and the Department of Health
and Human Services acted as a major stakeholder for the project. The following sections of
the paper will briefly develop community health profiles for King County, Seattle,
Washington State, USA.
Community Profile
Brief Overview
The King County, Washington, USA has a population of over 2.23 million people as
of 2018, with a median age of 36.8 years and a median household income of $95,000
annually (Kingcounty.gov., 2020). The poverty status of the region presents an estimate of
10.2% of the population living below the poverty line, where the White contributes
significantly to this number, followed by Hispanics and then Asians. Over 94.5 percent of the
population in the region has health coverage, and the per capita personal health care spending
was estimated to be over $7,913 in 2014 (Kingcounty.gov., 2020).
Demographics
Out of the total population, people aged above 65 years contribute around 11%,
whereas people aged between 25-44 years contribute most to the total population, over 37%.
Other than the Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians are the next highest contributors to the
population. The number of unemployed individuals in King County accounts for over 6.5%.

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General Health Status
The life expectancy at birth (years) in the King County population is 81.8, which is
slightly higher than the statistics for the Washington state, which stands at 80.3 (Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). According to the World Bank statistics for 2016, the
national statistics for life expectancy results show 78.69 years (Data.worldbank.org., 2020).
On the other hand, the global life expectancy for the year 2016 is reported to be 72 years,
with a general inference that women live longer than men (World Health Organization,
2020). Reviewing the above information on life expectancy in years, it can be inferred that
the population of King County has significantly higher life expectancy levels in comparison
to the state, national, and global data.
Maternal and Child Health
The infant mortality rate per 1000 live birth for King County is 4.2, For Seattle is 4.2,
and for the Washington State is 4.6. According to the Center for Disease Control (2020) and
Prevention, the national statistics for the infant mortality rate for the year 2017 was 5.8 per
1,000 live births. On the other hand, the global infant mortality rate for the year 2017,
according to the World Health Organization, was 29 deaths per 1,000 live birth (World
Health Organization, 2020). These statistics indicate that population over at King County
have excellent maternal health and significantly low infant rate mortality rate in comparison
to other regions.
The indicators of low-birth weight, that is weight below 2,500 g needs to be
considered for overviewing the maternal health condition in the regions. King County has 6.5
low-birth-weight incidences per 100 births. This data for Washington State is slightly better
at 6.3 incidences per 100 births. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(2020), the percentage of low birth weight incidence in the USA is 8.28%. The national

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statistics for this specified indicator is double to that of the Washington state and King
County region.
Identifying Health Issue
Analyzing the age-adjusted statistics per 100,000 individuals, cancer is the leading
cause of death in King County at 150.5, followed by heart disease (127.2) and Alzheimer’s
disease (41.1). The respective statistics for the Washington state are cancer (162.5), Heart
diseases (142.3), and Alzheimer’s disease (44.0). The same statistics for Seattle stands at
cancer (151.2), heart disease (123.5), and Alzheimer’s disease (34.0), which indicates that
cancer and heart disease stats for the local, regional, and the state do not have significant
differences. Comparing these geographically limited data with national and international
statistics produces conclusive evidence regarding the overall standard of the community
health of the concerned region.
However, the major health issue that is identified in the community living in King
County is the incidence of diabetes mellitus. The age-adjusted rate of diabetes per 100,000
individuals in King County is 18.3, slightly lower than the Washington State’s statistic of
21.9. Over 51,000 Black or African American individual reside in the King County, and they
are the major community affected by diabetes mellitus. According to Washington State’s
Diabetes Disparities Report, the rates of diabetic deaths in King County are significantly
lower than other states. However, over 84,000 people are affected by diabetes, which
indicates the severity of this health problem.
Conclusion
Community health profiling rearranges the critical health data and indicators to help
the analysts get a brief overview of the health status of the community. The
sociodemographic data for the region highlights that the Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics
contribute a significant proportion of the overall population of King County. Reviewing the

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health indicators and relevant data of the King County, it is interpreted that the population of
the region report better health in comparison to Seattle, the Washington State, the nation or
the international countries. The major health problem identified is diabetes, which is
significantly affecting community health in the King County region. Other health indicators
in which King County has better statistics include low-birth-weight and infant mortality rate,
both of which have significantly lower rates in the population of King County in comparison
to other regions.

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References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020). FastStats. Cdc.gov. Retrieved 26 March
2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/
Data.worldbank.org. (2020). Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) |
Data. Data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 26 March 2020, from
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
Kingcounty.gov. (2020). Kingcounty.gov. Retrieved 26 March 2020, from
https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/data/~/media/depts/health/data/documents/
city-health-profiles/City-Health-Profile-Seattle-2016.ashx
US Department of Health and Human Services. (2020). Healthy people 2020. Washington,
DC: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2011.
World Health Organization (2020). Life expectancy. World Health Organization. Retrieved
26 March 2020, from
https://www.who.int/gho/mortality_burden_disease/life_tables/situation_trends_text/
en/
World Health Organization. (2020). Infant mortality. World Health Organization. Retrieved
26 March 2020, from
https://www.who.int/gho/child_health/mortality/neonatal_infant_text/en/