ACCESS TO CARE AND LIFESTYLE BEHAVIORS ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTH DIFFER IN COAL AND TOBACCO DEPENDENT COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA

In years past regional commissions were established to improve the economic status and quality of life for residents in Appalachia and tobacco dependent counties of Virginia. Today these areas still experienced economic hardship and report elevated rates of chronic diseases compared to other areas in Virginia.

Objective: The objective of the current study was to identify social determinants of health (SDOH) associated with chronic disease in coal and tobacco dependent counties in Virginia.

Methods: SDOH variables were obtained from the County Rankings and Road Map Report. Residents in coal dependent counties were those in Lenowisco and Cumberland Plateau Health Districts (n=9); tobacco dependent counties were in Pittsylvania, Southside and Piedmont Health Districts (n=12); and counties in Mount Rogers and Western Piedmont Health Districts were controls (n=12). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to assess differences in selected SDOH such as access to care and lifestyle behaviors.

Results: The findings revealed statistically significant differences in access to care indicators, i.e., clinical care, proportion of uninsured, preventable hospital days, and health screenings. Lifestyle behavior indicators, i.e., adult obesity and access to healthy foods also influenced health in the three geographic areas of interest (p <0.05).

Conclusion: Access to care and lifestyle behaviors affect health in different geographic areas of Virginia. Future intervention programs to improve health should consider these differences in health care indicators and behaviors in coal dependent, tobacco dependent and control counties in Virginia.

Funding source: “This study was sponsored by the Appalachian Research Initiative for Environmental Science (ARIES). ARIES is an industrial affiliates program at Virginia Tech, supported by members that include companies in the energy sector. The research under ARIES is conducted by independent researchers in accordance with the policies on scientific integrity of their institutions. The views, opinions and recommendations expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not imply any endorsement by ARIES employees, other ARIES-affiliated researchers or industrial members. Information about ARIES can be found at http://www.energy.vt.edu/ARIES.”