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Burden of Chronic Conditions

You have arrived at a downloadable TOOL that allows you to estimate the cases, costs, and health impacts of Chronic Diseases in California Counties. This is ongoing project uses estimates from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Chronic Disease Cost Calculator, the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), and a number of other sources (see the Background Information). We update the information periodically (last update: September 2018). Your comments are welcomed.

CHEER CA aims in rural and underserved areas make better decisions about how they allocate their money. Part of this mission involves providing local decision makers with the information they need to make informed decisions. The information provided on this webpage is intended to assist and inform County Officials, researchers, members of the public, and community organizations.1

The data and the TOOL were developed by researchers at the University of California, Merced (Professor Paul Brown, Ravi Singh, and Dr. Jonathan Boyajian) and the National University of Colombia in Bogota) (Professor Jorge Diaz, Dr. Jairo Alexander Moreno, and Carolina Sarmiento).

Before you begin…Please remember:

  • These are only estimates – There is no single source of data on the cost of chronic diseases in California. The estimates presented here were compiled from a number of sources, including Chronic Disease Control Branch at the California Department of Public Health, the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the California Cancer Registry, and Census data for California.
  • Downloadable files - There are four files that you can download (links below):
    • Cost and Burden of Chronic Conditions Tool – This is a standalone file that will let you estimate the cost and burden of chronic conditions by county in California. As part of the tool, you will be asked to enter a variety of information. We strongly recommend that you read the supporting documents to help you understand the information that you will be asked to enter and how to interpret the results.
    • Cost and Burden of Chronic Conditions Powerpoint Instructions – This Powerpoint presentation provides an overview of the information you will need to use the Cost and Burden of Chronic Conditions Tool and how to interpret the results.
    • Cost and Burden of Chronic Conditions Powerpoint Instructions with Audio – In this audio presentation, we discuss the slides that provide an overview of the information you will need to use the Cost and Burden of Chronic Conditions Tool and how to interpret the results.
    • Cost and Burden of Chronic Conditions Technical Material – This file provides additional details on how to use the Cost and Burden of Chronic Conditions Tool, including:
      • Available data
      • Calculation of prevalence rates and number of cases
      • Calculation of cost estimates  Calculation of health outcome losses (Quality Adjusted Life Years)
      • Information required from user and results
      • Interpreting the cost results
  • Please properly cite our work –If you want to use the information, please cite the source as: Brown P, Singh R, Boyajian J, Moreno A, Sarmiento C, Diaz J. Health Economic Data on California Counties: Cost and Burden of Chronic Diseases. Center for Rural Health Evaluation and Economics, University of California, Merced. Accessed on MM/DD/YYYY from cheer.ucmerced.edu.

 

Having problems downloading the TOOL?

Users have reported two types of problems in accessing the TOOL:

  • Can’t download the TOOL - The TOOL is an executable EXCEL file (EXE). Some network security protocols will let you download the file only after you tell it to override its safety features. Other security protocols won’t allow you to download it at all. 
  • Can download the TOOL, but it won’t run – When you download the TOOL, you are also downloading all the data that is used to calculate the cost and burden of chronic condition. This is a large data file, and some computers do not have the memory required to run the program.

How can I get help? If you are having problems, contact us and we will either get you the file or will run the analysis for you.   

Are you a part of a CACHI initiative? 

The California Accountable Communities for Health Initiatives (CACHI) bring together clinical providers with public health departments, schools, social service agencies, community organizations, and other stakeholders to help improve the health of their community. The information provided in the TOOL can help those involved with CACHI to understand the cost and burden of health conditions facing their communities. If you are part of a CACHI and would like assistance with understanding and accessing the information in the TOOL, please contact us and we be happy to provide you with the information you need.    

1Funding was provided from a number of sources, including the Health Sciences Research Institute at the University of California, Merced, the Chronic Disease Control Branch at the California Department of Public Health, the California Healthcare Foundation, and the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative.