Introduction
“Medical Billing,” photographed by Dominion Revenue Solutions, Flickr
The Borough of Madison receives Health Department Services through the Westfield Health Department, which oversees various aspects of public health. The Board of Health convenes bimonthly to address matters such as municipal registrar, environmental health, public health nursing, and health education initiatives. Heart disease, identified by the CDC as the leading cause of mortality in the United States, accounts for millions of deaths annually. For further information on heart disease, please visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Figure 1: Heart disease prevalence in Madison, NJ (Darker red indicates higher rates of heart disease, max: 5 percent)
Data
Studying heart disease prevalence is important because it helps us understand how common diseases are in different populations, which guides decisions on how to allocate resources, implement interventions, and improve healthcare outcomes. The displayed map illustrates the percentage of adults affected by heart disease in different census tracts of Madison, NJ, as generated by the CDC.
Results
According to Census 2010, roughly 15,845 people live in Madison (as shown by the red place point in the center of Madison, NJ). Darker red colors indicate higher rates of coronary heart disease, ranging from <4% to >7.5%. In the Madison area, the north quadrant exhibits the highest estimated prevalence of heart disease, averaging at 5.0%. However, when compared to 36 other chronic diseases, heart disease prevalence is relatively low. Cholesterol screening shows the highest crude prevalence at 90.6%.
Conclusion
Understanding heart disease prevalence guides resource allocation and targeted interventions, thereby reducing its burden on communities. By monitoring changes in prevalence over time, the effectiveness of prevention and treatment strategies can be evaluated, leading to continuous improvement in healthcare practices. Furthermore, raising awareness of heart disease prevalence encourages individuals to adopt healthier lifestyles, thus mitigating their risk of developing the disease. Organizations like the American Heart Association play a vital role in this effort by focusing on cardiovascular health and striving to reduce disability and death caused by heart disease and stroke through research, education, advocacy, and support initiatives.
About the Data
Local Data for Better Health / Tracts (2023) was developed as part of PLACES, which is an extension of the original 500 Cities Project initiated in 2015. This initial project was a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), and the CDC Foundation. The partnership, which began in 2018, was extended through 2020. Subsequently, in 2020, the project expanded to provide small area estimates (SAE) for counties, places, census tracts, and ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA) across the entire United States. The dataset can be found online here.
To download a one-page slide for this summary on heart disease prevalence in Madison, NJ, click here.
Access a full screen version of the embedded map, along with the detailed description, here.
