2008 Annual Vital Statistics Summary Released

The 2008 Annual Summary of Vital Statistics has been released by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). 

The report serves as a baseline document used to assess the health of Kansans.  It is used by the department’s program managers, policy makers, local health department professionals, epidemiologists, academic researchers, the public, and by federal, state, and local governments.

Tables and charts contained in this report provide information on live births, deaths, stillbirths, marriages, marriage dissolutions (divorce and annulment), and abortions recorded annually.

The report highlights a number of items of interest for 2008:

• In 2008, a total of 41,815 births were registered to Kansas residents, 136 less than in 2007.

• More than nine percent (9.3) of live births in 2008 were preterm (less than 37 completed weeks of gestation).

• The percent of Kansas mothers receiving inadequate prenatal care (15.8) decreased slightly (3.1 percent) between 2007 and 2008.

• Out-of-wedlock births followed national trends, increasing to a record high (15,754 or 37.7 percent).

• The teen pregnancy rate for Hispanic teens (10-19) has increased over 12 percent (12.2 per 1,000 female age-group population) between 2004 (50.2) and 2008 (56.3).  Hispanic teens have the highest pregnancy rates in the state.

• In 2008, a total of 303 infant deaths occurred (7.2 infant deaths per 1,000 live births), 30 less than in 2007.

• The disparity in the infant, neonatal and post neonatal death rates between White non-Hispanics and Black non-Hispanics continues to be a public health concern. The Black non-Hispanic infant death rate (13.3) is 2.1 times higher than the rate for White non-Hispanics (6.2).

• Almost half of the abortions performed in Kansas occurred to non-Kansans. The abortion ratio, since reaching a peak of 186.3 per 1,000 live births in 1996, has generally declined by 29.3 percent to 131.8 in 2008.

• Heart disease, the leading cause of death for Kansans, has gradually declined from 305.4 deaths per 100,000 population in 1989 to 202.7 deaths in 2008. 

• In 2008, the age-adjusted suicide rate (12.5) decreased 8.1 percent from 2007(13.6).

• In 2008, unintentional injuries were the leading cause of death for Kansas residents 1-44 years of age. 

The 2008 Annual Summary of Vital Statistics is the first one to be issued in an all-electronic format.  Rising costs and a limited budget resulted in the change.  The report can be accessed as a PDF file and printed by readers for their use.  The report can be found at http://www.kdheks.gov/bphi/. 

Concurrent with the report’s release, the online query tool – Kansas Information for Communities (KIC) – has also been updated.  KIC can be accessed at http://kic.kdhe.state.ks.us/kic/. 

Persons inquiring about additional data needs can call (785) 296-8627.