Health

Study: Missouri Ranks Low In Senior Health, Kansas Improves Standing

KCUR | By Dan Margolies

Published May 21, 2014 at 12:13 PM CDT

Missouri is the 39^th healthiest state for older adults, according to a study released Wednesday by a nonprofit arm of UnitedHealth Group, the country’s largest health insurer.

In the second state-by-state analysis undertaken by the United Health Foundation, Missouri slipped three places, hurt by relatively high smoking rates, a high percentage of low-care nursing home residents and a low percentage of dental visits within the previous 12 months.

Nearly 12 percent of Missouri adults age 65 and older are smokers, according to the study, 46^th worst in the nation.

For the second year in a row, Minnesota came out on top in the study, followed by Hawaii, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts. The least healthy state for older adults was Mississippi, followed by Louisiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arkansas. You can see the rankings in full here.

Kansas ranked 17^th in the study, improving three places over last year. The study cited various positive health indicators, including few poor mental health days reported per month, a high percentage of older adults reporting volunteer activities and low rates of chronic drinking.

The report looks at 34 measures of older-adult health and draws on data from government agencies and private research groups.

Other Missouri highlights of the report:

Use of hospice care increased by a third.
Hospital deaths were down by 14 percent.
Flu vaccinations increased from 63.1 percent to 67.3 percent.
The number of underweight older adults decreased from 1.6 percent to 1.1 percent.

Other Kansas findings:

29.4 percent of older adults fell in the last 12 months, 30th among all states.
For the second year in a row, the state ranked fourth in volunteerism among older adults.
The state ranked 45^th in the percentage of low-care nursing home residents, 18.2 percent.
The state ranked 38^th in percentage of hip fractures, 8.3 percent.

More than 40 million Americans were 65 and older as of the 2010 U.S. census, comprising 13 percent of the total population. That number is projected to more than double to 88.5 million by 2050, or more than 20 percent of the population.