HOME: Oakland Equity Indicators | Public Health | Physical and Mental Health

Physical and mental health encompasses a wide range of health outcomes and can be measured in many different ways. The Indicators in this Topic were chosen to reflect important public health issues that are not captured in other Topics in the Public Health Theme. The first two Indicators measure visits to the emergency department for severe mental illness and for substance abuse. The third Indicator measures new HIV diagnoses in Alameda County. In all three of these Indicators, the greatest disparities are between African American and Asian Oaklanders.

With a score of 4.7 out of 100, the Physical and Mental Health Topic is the lowest scoring Topic in the Public Health Theme, meaning that racial and ethnic disparities are the greatest in this Topic. All three of the Indicators in this Topic had low scores: the severe mental illness emergency department visits Indicator received a score of 7 and the new HIV diagnoses Indicator received a score of 6. The substance abuse emergency department visits Indicator received the lowest possible score of 1.

African Americans in Oakland had the highest emergency department visit rate of 352.2 per 100,000, whereas the lowest rate was among Asians at 41.9 per 100,000. The rates for Latinos (112.0 per 100,000) and Whites (142.8 per 100,000) were lower than the Oakland rate of 169.0 visits per 100,000. African Americans had a severe mental illness related emergency department visit rate that was 8.41 times higher than the rate for Asians.

We found that African Americans in Oakland had the highest emergency department visit rate of 5,859.7 per 100,000, whereas the lowest rate was among Asians at 374.2 per 100,000. The rate among Latinos (1858.9 per 100,000) and the rate among Whites (1920.1 per 100,000) were both lower than the citywide rate of 2,604.2 visits per 100,000. African Americans had a substance abuse related emergency department visit rate that was 15.66 times higher than the rate for Asians.

African Americans had the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses (52.0 per 100,000), far higher than any other race or ethnicity. Asians had the lowest rate (6.0 per 100,000), followed by Whites (11.5 per 100,000). The rate for Latinos (18.1 per 100,000) was higher than the rate for Alameda County (15.7 per 100,000). The rate of new HIV diagnoses among American Americans was 8.67 times higher than the rate for Asians.