Health Highlight Report for Taos County
Alcohol - Alcohol-Related Death: Deaths per 100,000 Population, Age-adjusted, 2013-2017
Taos County 76.995% Confidence Interval (63.2 - 90.5)Description of the Confidence IntervalThe confidence interval indicates the range of probable true values for the level of risk in the community.
A value of "DNA" (Data Not Available) will appear if the confidence interval was not published with the IBIS indicator data for this measure.Statistical Stability StableDescription of Statistical Stability- Stable = This count or rate is relatively stable and should provide a good estimate of your community risk.
- Unstable = This count or rate is statistically unstable (RSE >0.30), and may fluctuate widely due to random variation (chance).
- Very Unstable = This count or rate is extremely unstable (RSE >0.50). This value should not be used to represent your population risk. You should combine years or otherwise increase the population denominator in this calculation.
- DNA = Data Not Available. The required community value and/or confidence interval was not available for this measure.
New Mexico 62.2U.S. 34Taos County Compared to State
Description of Dashboard GaugeDescription of the Dashboard Gauge
This "dashboard" type graphic is based on the community data on the right. It compares the community value on this indicator to the state overall value.- Excellent = The community's value on this indicator is BETTER than the state value, and the difference IS statistically significant.
- Watch = The community's value is BETTER than state value, but the difference IS NOT statistically significant.
- Improvement Needed = The community's value on this indicator is WORSE than the state value, but the difference IS NOT statistically significant.
- Reason for Concern = The community's value on this indicator is WORSE than the state value, and the difference IS statistically significant.
The community value is considered statistically significantly different from the state value if the state value is outside the range of the community's 95% confidence interval. If the community's data or 95% confidence interval information is not available, a blank gauge image will be displayed with the message, "missing information."NOTE: The labels used on the gauge graphic are meant to describe the community's status in plain language. The placement of the gauge needle is based solely on the statistical difference between the community and state values. When selecting priority health issues to work on, a community should take into account additional factors such as how much improvement could be made, the U.S. value, the statistical stability of the community number, the severity of the health condition, and whether the difference is clinically significant.
Why Is This Important?
The consequences of excessive alcohol use are severe in New Mexico. New Mexico's total alcohol-related death rate has ranked first, second, or third in the US since 1981; and 1st for the period 1997 through 2010 (the most recent year for which state comparison data are available). The negative consequences of excessive alcohol use in New Mexico are not limited to death but also include domestic violence, crime, poverty, and unemployment, as well as chronic liver disease, motor vehicle crash and other injuries, mental illness, and a variety of other medical problems. Nationally, one in ten deaths among working age adults (age 20-64) is attributable to alcohol. In New Mexico this ratio is one in six deaths.Evidence-based Practices
There is a large body of evidence on effective strategies to prevent excessive alcohol use and alcohol-related harm. In the past decade, this evidence base has been the subject of numerous systematic expert reviews to assess the quality and consistency of the evidence for particular strategies; and to make recommendations based on this evidence. These expert reviews have recently been summarized by the NMDOH. The following list summarizes the evidence-based prevention strategies that are well-recommended by experts; and that could be more widely or completely implemented in New Mexico to reduce our alcohol-related problems: [http://ibis.health.state.nm.us/docs/Evidence/EvidenceBasedExcessiveAlcoholUsePrevention.pdf]. The following is a bit more information on prevention in general, and alcohol-related prevention in particular. Primary prevention attempts to stop a problem before it starts. In New Mexico, primary prevention of alcohol-related health problems has focused on regulating access to alcohol and altering the alcohol consumption behavior of high-risk populations. Regulatory efforts have included increasing the price of alcohol (shown to be effective in deterring alcohol use among adolescents), establishing a minimum legal drinking age, regulating the density of liquor outlets, and increasing penalties for buyers and servers of alcohol to minors. DWI-related law enforcement (e.g., sobriety checkpoints), when accompanied by media activity, can also be an important form of primary prevention, increasing the perceived risk of driving after drinking among the general population. Secondary prevention efforts try to detect and treat emergent cases before they cause harm. Screening and brief interventions (SBI) for adults in primary care settings is an evidence-based intervention to address problem drinking before it causes serious harm. Implementing this intervention more broadly in New Mexico primary care settings could help reduce our serious burden of alcohol-related chronic disease and injury. Tertiary prevention involves the treatment of individuals diagnosed with alcohol use disorders so they can recover to the highest possible level of health while minimizing the effects of the disease and preventing complications. According to the most recent estimates from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), [http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k7State/NewMexico.htm#Tabs], roughly 130,000 New Mexicans report past-year alcohol dependence or abuse, indicating an acute need for treatment. However, fewer than one in ten people in need of treatment receives it. Nationally, the most common reasons that people who need and seek treatment do not receive it are because: they have no health insurance and cannot afford the cost; they are concerned about the possible negative effect on their job; or they are not ready to stop using.Healthy People Objective SA-20:
Decrease the number of deaths attributable to alcoholU.S. Target: 71,681 deaths
Related Indicators
Relevant Population Characteristics:
Note
Rates are age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population.Data Sources
New Mexico Death Data: Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics (BVRHS), New Mexico Department of Health. New Mexico Population Estimates: University of New Mexico, Geospatial and Population Studies (GPS) Program, http://gps.unm.edu/. U.S. Data Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, ]http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/]Measure Description for Alcohol - Alcohol-Related Death
Definition: Alcohol-related death is defined as the total number of deaths attributed to alcohol per 100,000 population, age-adjusted to the U.S 2000 Standard Population. The alcohol-related death rates reported here are based on definitions and alcohol-attributable fractions from the CDC's Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI) website [http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/ardi/Homepage.aspx].
Numerator: Number of alcohol-related deaths in New Mexico
Denominator: New Mexico Population
