The county at the center of the state's HIV outbreak once again ranks lowest in an annual report of the state's health outcomes.
The rate of premature death in Scott County is the worst in Indiana and has continued to increase every year since 2007. The number of drug overdose deaths in the county is nearly five times the national average.
That's a stark contrast to what the report says is the healthiest county in the state. Hamilton County's rate of premature death is nearly four times lower than Scott County's. And the number of overdose deaths there falls in line with the national average of eight deaths per 100,000 people.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, or RWJF, and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute release health rankings for every state, by county, annually. The data takes a look at a wide variety of factors including behavior, clinical care, the physical environment and social and economic conditions.
Senior Program Officer at the RWJF, Amy Slonim says the annual rankings are kind of like a checkup.
"What the rankings do uniquely is also list off the big influencers around social and economic factors, such as graduation rates, unemployment, children living in poverty, social associations, and crime and violence, as well as the physical environment," Slonim says.
Statewide, about a third of Indiana residents are obese. Indiana also had a greater average of sexually transmitted infections and violent crime than the national median.
Indiana Public Media's Jill Sheridan contributed to this report.