Originally published by SmileHub.
The U.S. is home to over 168 million women, whose health and well-being are essential to their quality of life and happiness. However, access to affordable health care remains a challenge, and more than one-third of women in the U.S. skip needed medical care because of the cost.
Even though there are efforts across the nation to support women’s health, some states provide better conditions for women to thrive than others. In order to highlight the best states for women’s health and the ones that need to improve the most, SmileHub compared each of the 50 states based on 18 key metrics. The data set ranges from the maternal mortality rate to the quality of women’s hospitals to the affordability of a doctor’s visit. To highlight the best states for women’s health and the ones that need to improve the most, SmileHub compared each of the 50 states based on 18 key metrics. The data set ranges from the maternal mortality rate to the quality of women’s hospitals to the affordability of a doctor’s visit.
Women’s Health in Maryland (1=Best, 25=Avg.):
- Overall Rank: 6th
- 23rd – Women’s Life Expectancy at Birth
- 16th – Share of Physically Active Women
- 10th – Health & Wellness Charities per Woman
- 6th – Depression Rate for Women
- 10th – Affordability of a Doctor’s Visit
- 17th – Share of Women with Good or Better Health
- 29th – Quality of Women’s Hospitals
Methodology
In order to determine the best states for women’s health, SmileHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Health & Living Standards, 2) Health Care Policies & Support Systems and 3) Safety Risk.
We evaluated those dimensions using 18 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of women’s health. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), the square root of the population was used to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for population differences across states.
We then determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.
Health & Living Standards – Total Points: 45
- Women’s Life Expectancy at Birth: Full Weight (~4.50 Points)
- Female Uninsured Rate: Full Weight (~4.50 Points)
Note: This metric accounts for females ages 16 and older. - Share of Women with Good or Better Health: Double Weight (~9.00 Points)
- Women’s Preventive Health Care: Full Weight (~4.50 Points)
Note: This metric measures the share of women who were up-to-date on cervical and breast-cancer screenings. - Share of Physically Active Women: Full Weight (~4.50 Points)
- Share of Women Who are Obese: Full Weight (~4.50 Points)
Note: This metric measures the percent of females aged 18 years and older who have obesity. Obesity is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a body mass index greater than or equal to 30.0. - Maternal Mortality Rate: Full Weight (~4.50 Points)
- Heart Disease Mortality Rate for Women: Full Weight (~4.50 Points)
- Female Smoker Rate: Full Weight (~4.50 Points)
Health Care Policies & Support Systems – Total Points: 35
- Health & Wellness Charities per Total Number of Women*: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)
- Quality of Women’s Hospitals: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)
- Share of Women Ages 18-44 Who Reported Having One or More People They Think of as Their Personal Doctor or Health Care Provider: Double Weight (~8.75 Points)
Note: Primary care providers are specialized in establishing a long-lasting relationship with their patients, and are their medical point of contact. They diagnose, treat and prevent a wide variety of conditions in a way that is tailored to each individual patient. Having a dedicated health care provider, or a provider considered to be one’s personal doctor, is associated with elements of successful health care, such as:Primary care providers are specialized in establishing a long-lasting relationship with their patients, and are their medical point of contact. They diagnose, treat and prevent a wide variety of conditions in a way that is tailored to each individual patient. Having a dedicated health care provider, or a provider considered to be one’s personal doctor, is associated with elements of successful health care, such as:
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- Lower health care costs;
- Greater use of preventive services, such as flu shots or mammograms;
- Fewer emergency department visits for non-urgent or avoidable problems;
- Increased patient satisfaction;
- Improvements in chronic care management for chronic conditions such as hypertension and high cholesterol.
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- Abortion Policies & Access: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)
Note: This binary metric is based on research conducted by the Guttmacher Institute and takes into account 20 types of abortion restrictions – including gestational age bans, waiting periods, insurance coverage bans and medication abortion restrictions – and approximately 10 protective policies – including state constitutional protections, abortion funding, insurance coverage for abortion, and protections for patients and clinic staff.
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- 2 – Most or very protective: the state has most or all of the protective policies;
- 1.5 – Protective: the state has some protective policies;
- 1 – Some restrictions/protections: the state either has few restrictions or protections, or has a combination of restrictive and protective policies;
- 0.5 – Restrictive: the state has multiple restrictions and later gestational age ban;
- 0 – Most or very restrictive: the state either bans abortion completely or has multiple restrictions and early gestational age ban.
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- Unaffordability of Doctor’s Visit: Double Weight (~8.75 Points)
Note: This metric measures the percentage of women who could not afford to see a doctor in the past year due to costs. - Domestic Violence Support Services per Total Number of Women: Full Weight (~4.38 Points)
Safety – Total Points: 20
- Suicide Rate for Women: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Depression Rate for Women: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
- Prevalence of Rape Victimization Among Females: Double Weight (~10.00 Points)
Note: This metric measures instances of rape. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 91 percent of rape victims are female, and 9 percent are male.
