The focus of this project was to develop and present indicators of women's and minority health. The emphasis was to develop indicators that could be compared across time and across geographical areas to permit planners at the local, state, regional and national levels to assess health disparities and to monitor progress toward Healthy People 2010 goals. Therefore, current and anticipated availability of data was a consideration. In all cases, an attempt was made to obtain data at the lowest geographic level (preferably county) and for the most refined racial and age categories for the indicators identified. These objectives presented different challenges, depending on the particular data being sought. For some of the topics of interest (e.g., women taking folic acid, women suffering from osteoporosis), no data readily exist at the state level, not to mention for lower geographic areas. For other issues, state level survey data exist but county data are not available (e.g., prevalence of diabetes). Other data were available at the county level, but had to be obtained from the individual states, which involved not only major data collection efforts but also required standardizing the data provided from the different sources (e.g., infectious and chronic diseases). Yet other data were available at the county level and from a consolidated source (e.g., mortality and natality data) but have privacy restrictions when there are few occurrences at the county level.

Because most regions are comprised of both dense and sparsely populated areas, and the population is often over 80% white, rates can become distorted where very few births, deaths, or incidences of a disease may make a rate appear unrealistically high. This problem is especially common for data broken out by race. Users are cautioned to consider these data across time and in conjunction with other local information prior to making policy or funding decisions. Despite the cautionary note, the data in this database are the best estimates available for assessing the health status of women and minority populations. The data are provided primarily to serve as a baseline for assessment of potential problem areas.

Native Americans on reservations are included in all county and state data, unless otherwise noted.

The database is organized into ten topic areas; these are: Codes and Status, Demographics, Mortality, Infectious and Chronic Diseases, Mental Health, Reproductive Health, Maternal Health, Violence and Abuse, Prevention, and Access to Care.

The methods for data collection and presentation are described for each topic area and can be accessed in two ways: by clicking on the Sources button on the left side of the screen, or by highlighting a variable in Step 1 of the data collection process and clicking on the Help link. Either of these approaches provides details of the material presented in the database. Also, the computational approaches, definitions, and factors employed are detailed.

It should be noted that no tests were performed to determine the statistical significance of the data. Users are cautioned to examine the components of the indicators - the incidence and the population particularly when considering race-specific data for small geographic areas. Further, it should be noted that throughout this database persons of Hispanic/Latino origin can be of any race. In all race-specific indicators, the sum of white, black, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander equals total population. For 2000 Census demographic data, the total population is the sum of white, black/African American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, Other single race, and Two or more races.