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. Evidence Clearinghouses as Tools to Advance Health Equity: What We Know from a Systematic Scan. Prev Sci, 2023. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-023-01511-7

Willems Van Dijk, J.A., Catlin, B.B., Cofsky, A., & Carroll, C. Challenges and Lessons Learned from Communities Using Evidence to Adopt Strategies to Improve Healthy Food Environments. Health Aff (Millwood), 2015, 34(11):1979-85. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0643.

Bergum, A., Grigg, L., Givens, M.L., Catlin, B.B., Willems Van Dijk, J. How to Be an Informed Consumer of Evidence Ratings: It's in the Details. Prev. Chronic Dis, 2019 Sept 5; 16:190067. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd16.190067

Ranking Rationale and History

Purtle J., Peters R., Kolker J., Diez Roux A. (2017) Uses of Population Health Rankings in Local Policy Contexts: A Multisite Case Study. Medical Care Research and Review. doi: 10.1177/1077558717726115.

Catlin B.B., Athens JK, Kindig DA, Park H, Remington PL. Different perspectives for assigning weights to determinants of health. County Health Rankings Working Paper.

Remington, P.L, Catlin, B. B., & Gennuso K. P. (2015) The County Health Ranking: rationale and methods. Popul Health Metr, 13(11). doi: 10.1186/s12963-015-0044-2.

Remington, P.L. (2015) County Health Rankings and the Cult of the Imperfect. Health Serv Res, 50(5): 1407-12. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12351. 

Remington P.L., Catlin B.B. Measuring the Health of Communities - How and Why? Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 2011; 17,5 397-400.

Rohan AM, Catlin BB, Remington, PL (2009). Using the Wisconsin County Health Rankings to Catalyze Community Health Improvement. Journal of Public Health Management & Practice. 2009 Jan-Feb;15(1):24-32.

Peppard PE, Kindig DA, Dranger E, Jovaag A, Remington PL. (2008). Ranking Community Health Status to Stimulate Discussion of Local Public Health Issues: The Wisconsin County Health Rankings. American Journal of Public Health. 2008 Feb;98(2):209-212. Epub 2008 Jan 2.

Rankings Methods and Results 

Nguyen TQ, Michaels IH, Bustamante-Zamora D, et al. Generating Subcounty Health Data Products: Methods and Recommendations From a Multistate Pilot InitiativeJ Public Health Manag Pract. 2020;10.1097/PHH.0000000000001167. doi:10.1097/PHH.0000000000001167. 

Park, H., Roubal, A.M., Jovaag, A., Gennuso, K.P., & Catlin, B. (2015). Relative Contributions of a Set of Health Factors to Selected Health Outcomes. Am J Prev Med, 2015, 49(6): 961-9. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2015.07.016.

Hood, C.M., Gennuso, K.P., Swain, G.R., & Catlin, B.B. County Health Rankings: Relationships Between Determinant Factors and Health Outcomes. Am J Prev Med, 2016, 50(2):129-135. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2015.08.024.

Athens, J.K., Remington, P.L., and 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.

Roubal, A. M., Jovaag, A., Park, H., & Gennuso, K. P. (2015). Development of a Nationally Representative Built Environment Measure of Access to Exercise Opportunities. Prev Chronic Dis, 12, E09. doi: 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 pPopulation Health Measures. Prev Chronic Dis, 10, E129. doi: 10.5888/PCD10.13.

Arndt, S., Acion, L., Caspers, K., & Blood, P. (2013). How reliable are county and regional health rankings? Prev Sci, 14(5), 497-502. doi: 10.1007/s11121-012-0320-3

County-Level Analysis 

Macarius M. Donneyong, Teng-Jen Chang, John W. Jackson, Michael A. Langston, Paul D. Juarez, Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson, Bo Lu, Wansoo Im, R. Burciaga Valdez, Baldwin M. Way, Cynthia Colen, Michael A. Fischer, Pamela Salsberry, John F.P. Bridges and Darryl B. Hood. Structural and Social Determinants of Health Factors Associated with County-Level Variation in Non-Adherence to Antihypertensive Medication Treatment. MDPI, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020, September, 17, 6684; doi:10.3390/ijerph17186684

Gennuso, K.P., Blomme, C.K., Givens, M.L., Pollock, E.A., Roubal, A.M. Deaths of Despair(ity) in Early 21st Century America: The Rise of Mortality and Racial/Ethnic Disparities. Am J Prev Med, 2019 Nov., 57(5): 585-591. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2019.06.018

Nagasako E, Waterman, B, Reidhead M, Lian M, Gehlert S. 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 2017 10 May. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000000578.

McCullough JM, Leider JP. Associations Between County Wealth, Health and Social Services Spending, and Health Outcomes. Am J Prev Med. 2017 Jul 5. pii: S0749-3797(17)30262-3. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2017.05.005.

Gennuso, K.P., Jovaag, A., Catlin, B.B., Rodock, M., & Park, H. Assessment of Factors Contributing to Health Outcomes in the Eight States of the Mississippi Delta Region. Prev Chronic Dis, 2016, 13:E33. doi 10.5888/pcd13.150440.

Lin, Y.H., Eberth, J.M., & Probst, J.C. Ambulatory Care-Sensitive Condition Hospitalizations Among Medicare Beneficiaries.  Am J Prev Med, 2016, 51(4): 493-501. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2016.05.005.

McCullough, J.M., & Leider, J.P. Government Spending in Health and Nonhealth Sectors Associated with Improvement in County Health Rankings. Health Aff (Millwood), 2016, 35(11): 2037-2043.

Greer, S., Schieb, L.J., Ritchey, M., George, M., & Casper, M. County Health Factors Associated with Avoidable Deaths from Cardiovascular Disease in the United States, 2006-2010. Public Health Rep, 2016, 131(3): 438-48.

Hardin-Fanning, F. & Wiggins, A.T. Food Costs are Higher in Counties with Poor Health Rankings. J Cardiovasc Nurs, 2017, 32(2):93-98. doi: 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(1):404. doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3091-0.

Anderson, T.J., Saman, D.M., Lipsky, M.S., & Lutfiyya, M.N. A cross-sectional study on health differences between rural and non-rural U.S. counties using the County Health Rankings. BMC Health Serv Res. 2015 Oct 1;15(1):441. doi: 10.1186/s12913-015-1053-3.

Fields B.E., Bigbee J.L., Bell JF. Associations of Provider-to-Population Ratios and Population Health by County-Level Rurality. J Rural Health. 2015 Sep 3. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12143.

Winterbauer, N.L., Rafferty, P.L., Tucker, A., Jones, K., and Tucker-McLaughlin, M. (2015). Use and Percieved Impact of the County Health Rankings Report in Florida and North Carolina. J Public Health Manag Pract, 00(00), 1-7.

Courtemanche, C., Soneji, S., and Tchernis, R. (2015). Modeling Area-Level Health Rankings. Health Serv Res. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12352.

Hoffman, G. J., & Rodriguez, H. P. (2015). Examining Contextual Influences on Fall-Related iInjuries Among Older Adults for Population Health Management. Popul Health Manag, 2015 Dec;18(6):437-48. doi: 10.1089/pop.2014.0156. Epub 2015 Apr 28.

Singh, S. R., Young, G. J., Daniel Lee, S. Y., 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. Am J Public Health, 105(5), 914-921. doi: 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. J Public Health Manag Pract, 20(4), 378-383. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0b013e3182a5c2f8

Holzer, J., Canavan, M., & Bradley, E. (2014). County-level correlation between adult obesity rates and prevalence of dentists. J Am Dent Assoc, 145(9), 932-939. doi: 10.14219/jada.2014.48

Kindig DA, Cheng E. Even As Mortality Fell In Most US Counties, Female Mortality Nonetheless Rose In 42.8 Percent Of Counties From 1992 To 2006. Health Affairs 2013;32(3)

Cheng E, Kindig DA. Disparities in Premature Mortality Between High- and Low-Income US Counties. Preventing Chronic Disease 2012;9(3)

Mobilizing Action for Community Health (MATCH) Series

Kindig DA, Catlin BB, Remington PL. Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH): Metrics, Incentives, and Partnerships for Population Health. Preventing Chronic Disease 2010;7(4).

Pestronk RM. Using Metrics to Improve Population Health. Preventing Chronic Disease 2010;7(4).

Bilheimer LT. Evaluating Metrics to Improve Population Health. Preventing Chronic Disease 2010;7(4).

Oliver, T. R. (2010). Population Health Rankings as Policy Indicators and Performance Measures. Prev Chronic Dis, 7(5), A101.

Parrish RG. Measuring Population Health Outcomes. Preventing Chronic Disease 2010;7(4).

Asada Y. A Summary Measure of Health Inequalities for a Pay-for-Population Health Performance System. Preventing Chronic Disease 2010;7(4).

Kottke TE, Isham GJ. Measuring Health Care Access and Quality to Improve Health in Populations. Preventing Chronic Disease 2010;7(4).

Lantz PM, Pritchard A. Socioeconomic Indicators That Matter for Population Health. Preventing Chronic Disease 2010;7(4).

Mokdad AH, Remington PL. Measuring Health Behaviors in Populations. Preventing Chronic Disease  2010;7(4).

Jakubowski B, Frumkin H. Environmental Metrics for Community Health Improvement. Preventing Chronic Disease 2010;7(4).

Brownson RC, Seiler R, Eyler AA. Measuring the Impact of Public Health Policy. Preventing Chronic Disease 2010;7(4).