FIGURE 1——Socioeconomic gradients for (a–b) childhood outcomes (% low birthweight, childhood lead poisoning), (c–g) infectious disease and injury (gonorrhea, syphilus, chlamydia, tuberculosis, gunshot wounds), (h–l) cancer incidence (lung, breast, cervical, prostate, colon), and (m–r) mortality for the total population (premature, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV, homicide), with age-standardized rates stratified by census tract poverty and compared with relevant Healthy People 2000 objectives: Massachusetts (all outcomes except childhood lead poisoning) and Rhode Island (childhood lead poisoning only), circa 1990.
Note. All rates were age-standardized using the Year 2000 standard million, except for the childhood health outcomes (low birthweight and lead poisoning). In each graph, the height of the bar equals the rate, while the width is proportional to the size of the population in the socioeconomic stratum. Rates based on fewer than 5 cases were suppressed, owing to unreliability of the estimates. The original Healthy People 2000 mortality baseline rates and targets were age-standardized to the 1940 standard million; to make them compatible with rates age-standardized to the Year 2000 standard million, we restandardized the Healthy People 2000 baseline mortality rates to the Year 2000 standard million and applied the percentage reduction used to set the original target rate to generate an equivalent target age-standardized to the Year 2000 standard million. Data on childhood lead poisoning are from Rhode Island, 1994–1996. All other data are from Massachusetts: births, 1989–1991; sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis, 1993–1998; nonfatal gun-related injuries, 1995–1997; cancer incidence, 1988–1992; mortality, 1989–1991.
