Map Details: Prevalence of Diagnosed Diabetes and Availability of High Speed Internet by Health Service Area

Five of fourteen Vermont health service areas have above state average rates of diagnosed diabetes and over 60% of households with access to high-speed internet. These areas identify potential regions where online resources may be more effective.

This map has 3 small multiples. The first displays the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among adults 18 and older for the State of Vermont by Health Service Area. The health service area rates ranged from 6% to 13%. Nine of fourteen health service areas had a diagnosed diabetes prevalence above the state average including: Newport, St. Johnsbury, Morrisville, Upper Valley, Randolph, Rutland, Windsor, Springfield, and Bennington.

The second map shows the percent of households with good broadband access. The proportion of households with good broadband access varied across health service areas from 50% to over 75%. Health service areas with 60%-74% of households with high speed broadband access included Barre and Brattleboro and those with 75% or higher internet speeds included: Burlington, Randolph, Rutland, Springfield, Windsor, and Bennington.

The third map displays high prevalence health service areas with greater household broadband accessibility. Five health service areas had above state average prevalence of diagnosed diabetes and 60% or more households with access to high speed internet.

ArcGIS Pro 3.0

Vermont Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 2018-2019, and Vermont Department of Public Service, 2019.

Three small multiples were prepared showing 1) the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among adults, 2) the percent of households with standard or better broadband access, and 3) the areas with high prevalence with greater than 60% broadband access.  Diabetes prevalence was produced from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) using statistical modeling with SUDAAN procedures in SAS v9.4. Little statistical variation existed between Health Service Areas and the statewide rate. Therefore, in order to provide meaningful data for decision making, health service area rates above the state average were considered higher risk areas.  As defined by the Federal Communications Commission, standard broadband access was defined as 25 Megabytes per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload (25/3). Anything slower than 25/3 is therefore considered underserved. Broadband access is presented by households not individuals. A spatial join was performed on the prevalence and broadband layers by health service area. A selection was then used to display only health service areas where the diagnosed diabetes prevalence was above the state average (9%) and greater than 60% of households had good broadband access.

This map was created by the Vermont Department of Health’s Heart Disease and Diabetes Program to aid in the quality improvement of the My Healthy Vermont Diabetes Management Workshop. My Healthy Vermont is a state operated and funded suite of chronic disease self-management programs that are free to all Vermonters eligible for the program. During 2020, these programs began to be offered online while in-person workshops were shutdown. When workshops began to be offered in-person again, the program wanted to know where to invest online vs. in-person workshop resources.

Paul Meddaugh, Public Health Analyst, Vermont Department of Health
802-951-0133
paul.meddaugh@vermont.gov

Paul Meddaugh, Vermont Department of Health; accessed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Chronic Disease GIS Exchange https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/maps/gisx/mapgallery/VT-diabetes-broadband.html