Overview of the Cardiovascular Disease Atlas
Localizing disparities in cardiovascular health
What is the CVD Atlas?
The Cardiovascular Disease Atlas (CVD Atlas) provides on-demand evaluation and mapping of the CVD prevalence nationwide, by state, and by legislative district, as well as by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Users may create customized maps depicting CVD prevalence to support educational, advocacy, and public-affairs initiatives.
Why the CVD Atlas?
Minorities in the United States experience disparities in cardiovascular health that include higher rates of obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, heart disease, and stroke.[1] The purpose of the CVD Atlas is to locate areas where CVD prevalence is high as well as to identify affected and at-risk population groups.
What are the data sources and methodology of the CVD Atlas?
The CVD Atlas uses data from the following sources:
- Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data for 2000 through 2007 (sociodemographic characteristics of persons with cardiovascular disease)[2]
- 2000 US Census data are used to obtain estimates at the zip-code-tabulation-area level for age, gender, and race/ethnicity, percentage living in rural areas, percentage of highest level education obtained, percentage living in poverty, as well as the total population of each zip-code tabulation area in the United States)[3]
The National Minority Quality Forum applies small-area analysis to the data to identify CVD disparities and produce CVD Atlas maps.
What do CVD Atlas maps show?
Users may generate color-coded maps that depict levels of CVD prevalence nationwide, by state, and by legislative district. They may differentiate CVD prevalence further by age, gender, and race/ethnicity.
How do users access the CVD Atlas?
The CVD Atlas is one of an expanding array of Web-based resources available via the National Minority Quality Forum's Z-Atlas. For more information on the CVD Atlas, please contact us.
Notes
- George A. Mensah, Ali H. Mokdad, Earl S. Ford, Kurt J. Greenlund, and Janet B. Croft, "State of Disparities in Cardiovascular Health in the United States," Circulation
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data (Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000–2007), http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/index.htm.
- US Census Bureau, Census 2000, File 1, prepared by US Census Bureau, 2001 (accessed January 2008). 111, no. 10 (2005): 1233–1241.
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