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NORTH CAROLINA STATE LIBRARY
f>HSB STUDIES
N. C.
Doc.
JUN 1 5 1978
A Special Report Series by the N.C. Department of Human Resources, Division of
Health Services, Public Health Statistics Branch, P.0. Box 2091, Raleigh, N.C.
No. 7 July 1977
HEALTH PROBLEMS AND HEALTH CARE AMONG ADULT RESIDENTS
OF NORTH CAROLINA’S HEALTH SERVICE AREAS
Known as the North Carolina Citizen Survey (NCCS) , a sample survey conducted
by the North Carolina Department of Administration during September and October of
1976 provides data related to the health and economic characteristics of the state's
household population (1*4). Details concerning the survey design and methodology
have been reported (l). Briefly, a stratified random sample with proportional
allocation was selected from 1975 state income tax returns and 1975 listings of
residents eligible for Medicaid assistance. A representative cross-section of adults
was then questioned by telephone or in-person interview. Altogether, the sampling
frame included approximately 96 percent of the household count estimated for 1973,
and the final sample involved 1,385 households, each with a single respondent.
The representativeness of the statewide sample is discussed elsewhere (l).
Generally, differences between estimates obtained in the survey and other independ¬
ent estimates were not large although the possibility of some bias towards over¬
representation of urban households and lower-income households should be considered.
Also, the survey appears to underrepresent adult males by about 3-5 percent.
This report purports to highlight survey results with respect to questions
concerning the health and health care of households and adults in each of North
Carolina's six Health Service Areas (HSA's). These data were tabulated by the
Division of State Budget and Management in the Department of Administration. Other
summary data generated by Budget and Management and reported elsewhere (3,4) are
also discussed.
Except where the number of respondents (N) is given in the tables, results are
based on approximately 1 , 380 responses distributed according to the following HSA
totals: Western (229), Piedmont (270), Southern Piedmont (262), Capital (179),
Cardinal (190), Eastern (251). In the computation of percentages, unknown and miss¬
ing values generally have not been allocated to a response category, i.e., they are
included in the denominator.
Population Characteristics
In synthesizing results of the survey, one should be aware of various demographic
differences among the HSA's. These include greater rural ity, lower incomes, older
ages, and fewer high school graduates in the Western, Cardinal and Eastern HSA's;
higher frequencies of nonwhites in the Capital, Eastern and Cardinal HSA's; and a
higher frequency of females in the Eastern HSA.
Chronic Health Problems
Among the adult household population of North Carolina, NCCS findings show that
nearly 7% had trouble getting around freely, about 32% had been told by a doctor that
they had one or more of eight chronic diseases, and about 10% reported symptoms of
some neurological disorder. Circulatory and musculoskeletal impairments were the
