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1714alpha t1_j96qay6 wrote

Color scheme seems like it should be flipped.

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columntolumn t1_j96tlxh wrote

Also I don’t understand the use of a diverging color scale. I’ve only use diverging scales in chloropleths if there is a logical middle point (eg 0 if my scale includes neg and positive numbers). I guess in this case it makes it easier to distinguish the value of each county.

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SignificantDigits491 t1_j973ti5 wrote

It provides a larger number of visually distinguishable classes than a single color in different shades.

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Me_Melissa t1_j975ivp wrote

I think it creates an arbitrary line that intuitively feels like, "this is where there's problems, this is where things are good." At that point, whether intentionally or not, the color scale is editorializing the data presentation.

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kkngs t1_j97a3fw wrote

You are correct. It’s not an appropriate use of diverging color scheme. It’s more appropriate if you were looking at something like “change in percent of four condition Medicare recipients between 2010 and 2020”. Then one color would show trending up and the other trending down.

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theottozone t1_j96zcaj wrote

Does it matter if you provide the scale legend?

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KoeiNL t1_j97282m wrote

Yes, if you need to look at the scale to actually understand what is going on then you made a mistake in your visualisation.

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theottozone t1_j975l9a wrote

I disagree that's what the scale is for, to inform the audience on how the interpret the graph.

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KoeiNL t1_j97bo0d wrote

Your colouring should reflect the story you want to tell. What you are basically saying is that you are ok with a visualisation where red means good and green means bad as long as there is a scale/legend.

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theottozone t1_j97oyi9 wrote

And your saying yellow is the opposite of blue here? Theres no inherent meaning to colors. We give them that meaning and we document it in the legend.

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sei556 t1_j98syum wrote

Thats just bad/lazy design that can easily end up being manipulative. With any form of design, you always have to assume that whoever looks at it later on is the laziest person on earth. Because thats the average.

Your argument is like saying intuitive design for smartphones is useless because people can just read the manual.

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Training-Purpose802 t1_j971b7a wrote

I wonder if differing atitudes toward self-reliance lead to underutilizing health services. A western rancher can't get diagnosed with 4 chronic diseases if he's only gone to the doctor that one time when his arm fell off.

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Elmodogg t1_j96uu26 wrote

Ok, so these are all people over 65 (although disabled people are eligible for Medicare, too), but there's a big difference between a 65 year old and an 85 year old in terms of likelihood of chronic medical problems.

I wonder if the Medicare populations in the blue areas are older in general than the Medicare populations in the other areas? The older you get, the more likely you may be to head south for warmer weather.

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atmsillini t1_j96zizk wrote

Also a seems to be a correlation with obesity

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edgeplot t1_j978dp4 wrote

And poverty, whether rural or urban.

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deeptull t1_j96wqcx wrote

Blue areas (on this map) have lower life expectancy. The average age should be lower, so it is likely the exact opposite of your thesis.

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Elmodogg t1_j9887z8 wrote

I don't think average life expectancy of the general population would have anything to do with this. This is just looking at the Medicare population, and who has more chronic conditions.

The average life expectancy in a particular area is impacted by how many people die before they even reach Medicare age, right?

See:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/01/middle-aged-white-americans-left-behind-and-dying-early/433863/

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deeptull t1_j98aq3c wrote

Presumably poor health leads to (or means) more complications/conditions and early morbidity. A bit of a vicious cycle

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jkink28 t1_j96w308 wrote

I would've expected Wisconsin to be on the high end with all the binge drinking.

And of course the cheese shouldn't help matters either.

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TedwardCz t1_j96wu1s wrote

I'm curious how this map would look if it was all people with 4+ chronic medical conditions. I mean, I just counted more than 4 for myself, and I'm only 36.

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_B_Little_me t1_j96wsh6 wrote

BuT GoVErnMenT HAnD OuTS R Bad

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mick_ward t1_j970eec wrote

The Appalachians seem to be good for what ails you.

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Deluxe78 t1_j970srt wrote

Trees rarely get heart disease or lung cancer

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Bugsarecool2 t1_j96z93v wrote

The West needs their own system. I could be saving a lot more on my taxes.

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Chiliconkarma t1_j9731pd wrote

First, tripplecheck that the west isn't underdiagnosed and shouldn't join the east in having a more complete identification of health issues.

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Bugsarecool2 t1_j973fxh wrote

Are you suggesting there are more or better doctors in Louisiana? This map tracks with every health map I’ve seen.

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Chiliconkarma t1_j974if7 wrote

No, just that there may be more ways to read the map than the west needing their own system.

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ImoJenny t1_j973mvp wrote

This probably has more to do with diagnosis than anything...

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BigTex88 t1_j971jke wrote

Can we just get rid of the south? They cost the rest of us money and provide basically nothing. Plus they’d be more than happy to leave.

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ReineDeLaSeine14 t1_j97db8u wrote

I left Connecticut because I couldn’t afford to live there anymore. My Appalachian community has many people from CT, and a lot from NY.

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NZSheeps t1_j973srf wrote

I wonder how much Ohio will change in the next 12 months

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UnluckyChain1417 t1_j975cyw wrote

Poor and agriculture areas.. exposure to more artificial chemicals and immigrants that don’t trust the government/medical system.

And the most populated areas.

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TatosTatoes t1_j96yx1r wrote

Should’ve kept blue for lower numbers and red for higher numbers…. Could easily highlight the political irony of this chart!

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JadedFennel999 t1_j97454y wrote

I would use the warm colors for higher risk areas vs cool colors. That seems a bit backwards but an interesting result

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Shea_Scarlet t1_j97159x wrote

Why is it that US statistics maps always look exactly like the election map lol

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ptocco t1_j972vgw wrote

:/ it doesn’t… Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey all same color, West Coast, Wyoming, Montana, Vermont all same color.

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QueenOfPurple t1_j977635 wrote

Places like cancer alley aren’t doing people any favors.

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SmokyTree t1_j978gik wrote

Interesting there is a lot more blue in the states with lowest education, highest obesity rates, smoking alcoholism etc.

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idontwanttosaysorry t1_j979wcs wrote

So, places with lots of fat people have more health issues

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drc500free t1_j97bs2u wrote

Fascinating because this doesn't exactly break down with any specific map trend I've seen. They often break down on political axes and the New York/Connecticut/New Jersey area looks very different from the south.

It looks like a combination of obesity and urbanization.

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ReineDeLaSeine14 t1_j97d0ro wrote

Also, healthcare access. There are two scenarios in particular: people who can’t get a diagnosis because they can’t go to the doctor, and people who have a diagnosis but can’t get treatment.

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Bocote t1_j97c5u5 wrote

I've been staring at this for a bit, but still have no clue what to take away.

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inkybreadbox t1_j97dmwl wrote

The higher percentages in California’s Central Valley are a little concerning, since we have issues with drug and pesticide exposure in those areas already.

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EnviroTron t1_j96y7an wrote

Isn't this just showing us population density?

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Brainsonastick t1_j96zmmt wrote

No, it’s percentages. Population density looks very different.

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Stigma-1 t1_j976xqr wrote

i mean most older people move south, so makes sense.

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RompingOtter OP t1_j96mw8y wrote

Source: https://archive.is/Fuslg/again?url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/02/17/bad-southern-credit-scores/%3Futm_source=reddit.com

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SobriquetHeart t1_j96ou8n wrote

The link is for credit scores, but it doesn't vary much from the chronic health issues. I guess we can conclude that if they don't take care of their credit, they don't take care of their health.

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ay-papy t1_j96p32b wrote

Or if they cant afford to live, they cant afford to live healthy

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ComputersWantMeDead t1_j96w5ba wrote

The link covers all that. And has the OP graph further down.

The conclusion made in the article is that medical debt is the cause of bad credit, and areas where Governers didn't expand Medicaid are particularly bad.

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vr0202 t1_j979lwd wrote

The color scale could well have been blue for low to red for high, which would have brought out the consequences of how people vote.

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[deleted] t1_j96zwub wrote

[deleted]

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m0llusk t1_j976ebj wrote

No. The crescent of high black population does not show strongly and West Virginia is strongly represented here while also being mostly white.

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mr_ji t1_j975qlm wrote

😮👉...dammit, you're right.

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JeanEBH t1_j96up7y wrote

Population density should also factor in. This map is misleading.

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Onepopcornman t1_j96vp26 wrote

It is a proportion so it implicitly is normalized though right?

Not saying that density doesn't impact chronic health conditions but--I don't know if its misleading per se.

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