County’s Profile Shows Health Challenges

Roosevelt County commissioners shared on Tuesday, March 31, a profile of the county conducted by Action for Eastern Montana.

Commissioner Robert Toavs said interesting information in the profile included the county’s high rates for teenage pregnancies and diabetes.

“It’s a pretty interesting read for eastern Montana,” Toavs said at the commissioners’ meeting.

The teen birth rate per 1,000 females for ages 15-19 is 54.4 percent. The rate for all Montana is 16.7 percent. The average rate for the nation is 16.6 percent.

The diabetes rate for adults over the age of 20 is 12.1 percent in Roosevelt County. Figures are 7.5 percent in Montana and 8.9 percent for the nation.

As far as the cancer incidence rate per 100,000, Roosevelt County’s figure is 494.1 individuals. That compares with 457.0 for the state and 442.3 for the nation.

Percent of low birthweight births is 9.1 percent in Roosevelt County, 7.6 in Montana and 8.4 percent in the country.

Roosevelt County has a figure of 147.2 per 100,000 for coronary heart disease age-adjusted death rate. That compares with 130.6 in Montana and 111.0 for the nation.

The county reports high numbers for sexual transmitted diseases. Roosevelt County’s chlamydia rate per population of 100,000 is 1,502.08 compared to 322.65 per 100,000 in the state. Gonorrhea incidences in the county has a rate of 416.7 per 100,000 compared to 67.7 for the state.

In the county, 21.26 percent of adults in the county reported excessive drinking as opposed to 25.65 percent in the state and 19.35 percent nationally. For adults in Roosevelt County, 28.5 percent are current smokers compared to 15.9 percent in Montana.

Of Roosevelt County’s population of 10,236, 1,141 under the age of 18 are in poverty. The percentage of 34.26 is much above the state percentage of 13.84 percent.

The county annual rate for property crimes per 100,000 is 1,191.1 compared to the state’s rate of 2,575.4. The annual rate of violent crimes in the county is 1,314.80 per 100,000 compared to the state’s rate of 393.7.