overall rate/ratio/percentage, but the value of
the information contained in the total was
identified as important or attainable from other
sources, these rules were relaxed and the
original valuewas reported.
B
RIDGING
R
ACE
/E
THNICITY
To calculate the rates used in this report, it was
necessary to standardize race and ethnicity for
both the vital events (in the birth, death, and
fetal death data) and the population
denominators. In these data sources,
informationon raceandethnicity iscollectedand
categorized in a number of different ways,
requiring a standardmethod of classifying race
and ethnicity.
To create frequency counts of raceandethnicity
that were adequate to compute statistically
reliable rates, racewas ?bridged?, or essentially
collapsed into5 categories;Whitenon-Hispanic,
Hispanic or Latino, Black or African American,
NativeAmericanor AlaskanNative, andAsianor
Pacific Islander. When an individual was
identified as both Hispanic and any other race,
that person was included in the racial/ethnic
groupwith the lowest population. Forexample,a
person identified as both White and Hispanic
would be coded as Hispanic, where a person
identifiedasAmerican IndianandHispanicwould
be codedasAmerican Indian. Please refer to the
technical appendix for further explanationof the
racial bridging used in this report.
R
EVISED
P
OPULATION
D
ENOMINATORS
The2013ArizonaDepartment ofHealthServices
population denominators were estimated using
the 2013 population projections obtained from
the Office of Employment and Population
Statistics within the Arizona Department of
Administration (ADOA).Denominatorscalculated
for census years have used the census counts,
but denominators for inter-censal years have
been estimated using various sources of
information. For example, the 2011 population
denominatorswere createdusing the 2011CDC
bridged-race
population
estimates
in
combination with county-level population
estimates provided by the ADOA. Due to
differences in the data sources used to calculate
populationdenominators, variation in rates from
2011 to 2012may in part be due to differences
in denominator estimates.
For example, the estimate for Arizona?s Native
American population decreased by 15 percent
from 2011 (n = 360,414) to 2012 (n =
305,029). For Native American young adults
(age 20 ? 44), the number of deaths increased
byamodest 7.1percent from2011 (n=364) to
2012 (n = 390). In contrast, the age-adjusted
mortality rate for Native Americans increased
27.1 percent from 2011 (276.5/100,000) to
2012 (351.4/100,000). An estimated 309,035
Native Americans were living in Arizona 2013,
representing a more gradual 1.3 percent
increase from 2012.
As the illustrationabove shows, thedifference in
methods used to calculate population
denominators can lead to variation in rates that
do not accurately reflect changes in the number
of events occurring in the population. We
recommend analyzing the underlying counts for
each event before interpreting variation in rates
from 2011 to 2012.
KEYFINDINGS
S
TABILITY INNUMBEROFRESIDENTBIRTHS
In 2013 there were 84,963 resident births,
representing the lowest annual number of
resident births since 1999. Compared to 2012,
the number of births decreased for all
racial/ethnic groups excluding Black or African
Americans, who had a 0.2 percent increase.
S
ELECTED
C
HARACTERISTICSOF THE
W
OMEN
G
IVING
B
IRTH IN
2013
Among women who gave birth in Arizona in
2013:
?
45,792 births (53.9 percent) were paid
for by the Arizona Health Care Cost
Containment System (AHCCCS).
?
38,352 (45.2 percent) were unmarried,
whichmay signifyabsenceof emotional,
social, and financial resources.
?
35,447 (41.7 percent) had a serious
medical condition suchas hypertension,
anemia, or diabetes.
?
27,211 (32.0 percent) experienced
complications during labor and/or
delivery.
?
15,757 (18.5 percent) received late or
no prenatal care.
?
7,222 (8.5 percent) were teenagers 19
years old or younger.
?
3,944 (4.6percent) smokedand/orused
alcohol during pregnancy.
T
EEN
P
REGNANCIES
In2013, both thenumber of teenpregnancies (n
= 8,715) and the teen pregnancy rate (19.2)
were the lowest they have been since at least
1983 (themost recent information that couldbe
found). From 2007 to 2013 the number of teen
pregnancies decreased by 42.0 percent and the
pregnancy rate by 44.2 percent. From 2012 to
2013 thenumber of teenpregnanciesdecreased
by 10.2 percent and the pregnancy rate by 11.1
percent.
The number of teenage pregnancies decreased
more than 50 percent between 2007 and 2013
Arizona Health Status and Vital Statistics 2013
ix
