Scholarly Publications
Browse scholarly publications researched and authored by the County Health Rankings team and other researchers on a variety of topics related to population health and equity.
Community Action and Guidance
Hirsch, B. K., Stevenson, M. C., & Givens, M. L. (2023). Evidence clearinghouses as tools to advance health equity: What we know from a systematic scan. Prevention Science, 24(4), 613–624. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-023-01511-7
Willems Van Dijk, J. A., Catlin, B., Cofsky, A., & Carroll, C. (2015). Challenges and lessons learned from communities using evidence to adopt strategies to improve healthy food environments. Health Affairs, 34(11), 1979–1985. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0643
Bergum, A., Grigg, L., Givens, M. L., Catlin, B. B., & Willems Van Dijk, J. (2019). How to be an informed consumer of evidence ratings: It’s in the details. Preventing Chronic Disease, 16. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd16.190067
Rankings Rationale and History
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. (2024). County Health Rankings & Roadmaps working paper: Updates to methods and tools for practical application to improve health and equity. University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/sites/default/files/media/document/Working%20paper%20CHRR%202024_0.pdf
Catlin, B. B., & Willems Van Dijk, J. A. (2020). Ten-year reflections on the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/sites/default/files/media/document/CHRR10_year_reflections_report.pdf
Purtle, J., Peters, R., Kolker, J., & Diez Roux, A. V. (2019). Uses of population health rankings in local policy contexts: A multisite case study. Medical Care Research and Review, 76(4), 478–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077558717726115
Booske, B. C., Athens, J. K., Kindig, D. A., Park, H., & Remington, P. L. (2010, February). County Health Rankings working paper: Different perspectives for assigning weights to determinants of health. University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/sites/default/files/differentPerspectivesForAssigningWeightsToDeterminantsOfHealth.pdf
Remington, P. L., Catlin, B. B., & Gennuso, K. P. (2015). The county health rankings: Rationale and methods. Population Health Metrics, 13(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12963-015-0044-2
Remington, P. L. (2015). County health rankings and the cult of the imperfect. Health Services Research, 50(5), 1407–1412. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12351
Remington, P. L., & Booske, B. C. (2011). Measuring the health of communities—How and why? Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 17(5), 397. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0b013e318222b897
Rohan, A. M. K., Booske, B. C., & Remington, P. L. (2009). Using the Wisconsin County Health Rankings to catalyze community health improvement. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 15(1), 24. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0b013e3181903bf8
Peppard, P. E., Kindig, D. A., Dranger, E., Jovaag, A., & Remington, P. L. (2008). Ranking community health status to stimulate discussion of local public health issues: The Wisconsin County Health Rankings. American Journal of Public Health, 98(2), 209–212. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.092981
Rankings Methods and Results
Pollock, E. A., Gangnon, R. E., Gennuso, K. P., & Givens, M. L. (2024). Cluster analysis methods to support population health improvement among U.S. counties. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 30(6), E319. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000002034
Nguyen, T. Q., Michaels, I. H., Bustamante-Zamora, D., Waterman, B., Nagasako, E., Li, Y., Givens, M. L., & Gennuso, K. (2021). Generating subcounty health data products: Methods and recommendations from a multistate pilot initiative. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice: JPHMP, 27(1), E40–E47. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000001167
Park, H., Roubal, A. M., Jovaag, A., Gennuso, K. P., & Catlin, B. B. (2015). Relative contributions of a set of health factors to selected health outcomes. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(6), 961–969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.07.016
Hood, C. M., Gennuso, K. P., Swain, G. R., & Catlin, B. B. (2016). County health rankings: Relationships between determinant factors and health outcomes. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 50(2), 129–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.08.024
Athens, J. K., Remington, P. L., & Gangnon, R. E. (2015). Improving the rank precision of population health measures for small areas with longitudinal and joint outcome models. PLOS ONE, 10(6), e0130027. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130027
Roubal, A. M., Jovagg, A., Park, H., & Gennuso, K. P. (2015). Development of a nationally representative built environment measure of access to exercise opportunities. Preventing Chronic Disease, 12. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.140378
Athens, J. K., Catlin, B. B., Remington, P. L., & Gangnon, R. E. (2013). Using empirical bayes methods to rank counties on population health measures. Preventing Chronic Disease, 10, E129. https://doi.org/10.5888/PCD10.130028
Arndt, S., Acion, L., Caspers, K., & Blood, P. (2013). How reliable are county and regional health rankings? Prevention Science: The Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research, 14(5), 497–502. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0320-3
County-Level Analysis
Donneyong, M. M., Chang, T.-J., Jackson, J. W., Langston, M. A., Juarez, P. D., Sealy-Jefferson, Lu, B., Im, W., Valdez, R. B., Way, B. M., Colen, C., Fischer, M. A., Salsberry, P., Bridges, J. F. P., & Hood, D. B. (2020). Structural and social determinants of health factors associated with county-level variation in non-adherence to antihypertensive medication treatment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(18), 6684. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186684
Gennuso, K. P., Blomme, C. K., Givens, M. L., Pollock, E. A., & Roubal, A. M. (2019). Deaths of despair(ity) in early 21st century America: The rise of mortality and racial/ethnic disparities. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 57(5), 585–591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2019.06.018
Nagasako, E., Waterman, B., Reidhead, M., Lian, M., & Gehlert, S. (2018). Measuring subcounty differences in population health using hospital and census-derived data sets: The Missouri ZIP health rankings project. Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, 24(4). 340 – 349. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000000578
McCullough, J. M., & Leider, J. P. (2017). Associations between county wealth, health and social services spending, and health outcomes. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 53(5), 592–598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.05.005
Gennuso, K. P., Jovaag, A., Catlin, B. B., Rodock, M., & Park, H. (2016). Assessment of factors contributing to health outcomes in the eight states of the Mississippi Delta region. Preventing Chronic Disease, 13, 150440. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd13.150440
Lin, Y. H., Eberth, J. M., & Probst, J. C. (2016). Ambulatory care-sensitive hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 51(4), 493–501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2016.05.005
McCullough, J. M., & Leider, J. P. (2016). Government spending in health and nonhealth sectors associated with improvement in county health rankings. Health Affairs, 35(11), 2037–2043. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0708
Greer, S., Schieb, L. J., Ritchey, M., George, M., & Casper, M. (2016). County health factors associated with avoidable deaths from cardiovascular disease in the United States, 2006-2010. Public Health Reports, 131(3), 438–448. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/003335491613100310
Hardin-Fanning, F., & Wiggins, A. T. (2017). Food costs are higher in counties with poor health rankings. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 32(2), 93–98. https://doi.org/10.1097/JCN.0000000000000329
Peyer, K., Welk, G. J., Bailey-Davis, L., & Chen, S. (2016). Relationships between county health rankings and child overweight and obesity prevalence: A serial cross-sectional analysis. BMC Public Health, 16, 404.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3091-0
Anderson, T. J., Saman, D. M., Lipsky, M. S., & Lutfiyya, M. N. (2015). A cross-sectional study on health differences between rural and non-rural U.S. counties using the county health rankings. BMC Health Services Research, 15, 441. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-015-1053-3
Fields, B. E., Bigbee, J. L., & Bell, J. F. (2015). Associations of provider-to-population ratios and population health by county-level rurality. Journal of Rural Health, 32(3), 235–244. https://doi.org/10.1111/jrh.12143
Winterbauer, N. L., Rafferty, P. L., Tucker, A., Jones, K., & Tucker-McLaughlin, M. (2016). Use and perceived impact of the county health rankings report in Florida and North Carolina. Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, 22(6), E1-E7. https://doi.org/10.1097/phh.0000000000000320
Courtemanche, C., Soneji, S., & Tchernis, R. (2015). Modeling area-level health rankings. Health Services Research, 50(5), 1413-1431. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12352
Hoffman, G. J., & Rodriguez, H. P. (2015). Examining contextual influences on fall-related injuries among older adults for population health management. Population Health Management, 18(6), 437–448. https://doi.org/10.1089/pop.2014.0156
Singh, S. R., Young, G. J., Lee, S. Y. D., Song, P. H., & Alexander, J. A. (2015). Analysis of hospital community benefit expenditures' alignment with community health needs: Evidence from a national investigation of tax-exempt hospitals. American Journal of Public Health, 105(5), 914–921. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302436
Harris, A. L., Scutchfield, F. D., Heise, G., & Ingram, R. C. (2014). The relationship between local public health agency administrative variables and county health status rankings in Kentucky. Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, 20(4), 378–383. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0b013e3182a5c2f8
Holzer, J., Canavan, M., & Bradley, E. (2014). County-level correlation between adult obesity rates and prevalence of dentists. Journal of the American Dental Association, 145(9), 932–939. https://doi.org/10.14219/jada.2014.48
Kindig, D. A., & Cheng, E. (2013). Even as mortality fell in most U.S. counties, female mortality nonetheless rose in 42.8 percent of counties from 1992 to 2006. Health Affairs, 32(3), 451–458. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0892
Cheng, E., & Kindig, D. A. (2012). Disparities in premature mortality between high- and low-income U.S. counties. Preventing Chronic Disease, 9(3), 110120. http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd9.110120
Mobilizing Action for Community Health (MATCH) Series
Kindig, D. A., Catlin, B. B., & Remington, P. L. (2010). Mobilizing action toward community health (MATCH): Metrics, incentives, and partnerships for population health. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(4): A68. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/10_0019.htm
Pestronk, R. M. (2010). Using metrics to improve population health. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(4): A70. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/10_0018.htm
Bilheimer, L. T. (2010). Evaluating metrics to improve population health. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(4): A69. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/10_0016.htm
Oliver, T. R. (2010). Population health rankings as policy indicators and performance measures. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(5), A101. https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/sep/pdf/10_0040.pdf
Parrish, R. G. (2010). Measuring population health outcomes. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(4): A71. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/10_0005.htm
Asada, Y. (2010). A summary measure of health inequalities for a pay-for-population health performance system. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(4): A72. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/09_0250.htm
Kottke, T. E., & Isham, G. J. (2010). Measuring health care access and quality to improve health in populations. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(4): A73. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/09_0243.htm
Lantz, P. M., & Pritchard, A. (2010). Socioeconomic indicators that matter for population health. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(4): A74. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/09_0246.htm
Mokdad, A. H., & Remington, P. L. (2010). Measuring health behaviors in populations. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(4): A75. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/10_0010.htm
Jakubowski, B., & Frumkin, H. (2010). Environmental metrics for community health improvement. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(4): A76. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/09_0242.htm
Brownson, R. C., Seiler, R., & Eyler, A. A. (2010). Measuring the impact of public health policy. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(4): A77. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/09_0249.htm