State Program: Illinois
Capacity Building

The Illinois Department of Public Health began receiving funds from CDC in 2000 to support a state heart disease and stroke prevention program and in 2004 received additional CDC funding to lead the Great Lakes Regional Stroke Network.

Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke

• Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Illinois, accounting for 30,821 deaths or approximately 29% of the state's deaths in 2002. (National Vital Statistics Report 2004;53(5)).

• Stroke is the third leading cause of death, accounting for 7,183 deaths or approximately 7% of the state’s deaths in 2002. (National Vital Statistics Report 2004;53(5)).

• According to Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey results, adults in Illinois reported the following risk factors for heart disease and stroke:
  
  In 2005,
   
  • 25.5% had high blood pressure
  • 36.2% of those screened reported having high blood cholesterol

In 2006,

• 8.1% had diabetes
• 20.5% were current smokers
• 61.7% were overweight or obese (Body Mass Index greater than or equal to 25.0)
• 22.4% reported no exercise in the prior 30 days

State Highlights

• Illinois received CDC funding to lead the Great Lakes Regional Stroke Network (GLRSN) which also includes Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. With emphasis on partnerships, education, training, policy and systems–change strategies, the GLRSN network is expected to increase the ability of members to work across state boundaries and leverage efforts within the region to encourage stroke–related activities.
   
• In 2006, the Illinois Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program (HDSP), in collaboration with partners, published Stroke = Brain Attack, a rehabilitation, resource and information guide for stroke patients.
   
• The HDSP Program developed a burden report, Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke in Illinois: Mortality, Morbidity, and Risk Factors, to provide support for the development of a comprehensive state plan and provide data that identifies highest-risk populations and opportunities for intervention.
   
• In collaboration with its partners, the HDSP Program has sponsored the Illinois Cardiovascular Health Conference and the Great Lakes Regional Cardiovascular Health Conference. These conferences have brought state-of-the-art heart disease and stroke information to health practitioners, public health professionals, health educators and program planners from throughout the state and the Great Lakes Region.
   
• The program provides technical assistance, training and support to local health departments on activities such as promotion of High Blood Pressure and Stroke Awareness Month in May and Cholesterol Awareness Month in September.

For more information about the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry, see http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/stroke_registry.htm.

For more information on the burden of heart disease and stroke in the state, view the Burden of Cardiovascular Disease and Obesity in Illinois report at  http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/cvdtfrep.pdf.* (186K)

One or more of the following files are available in Portable Document Format (PDF). Learn more about PDFs.

To view county–level data, visit our interactive map site at http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/library/maps/statemaps.htm.

 
*Links to non–Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.
 

Page last reviewed: December 5, 2007
Page last modified: December 5, 2007
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion