Determinants of US local health department expenditures, 1992 through 1993.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined local health department expenditures and their relationship to several departmental characteristics, including the size of the population in the department's jurisdiction.


METHODS
Local health department characteristics were obtained from a 1992/93 nationwide mail survey and modeled by means of multiple linear regression.


RESULTS
Great variability existed in the per capita expenditures of local health departments, and approximately 70% of the variability was accounted for by differences in jurisdiction population size. Additional characteristics of the health departments explained another 11%. The average unadjusted per capita expenditure by local health departments nationwide was $26.


CONCLUSIONS
Local health department expenditures that support essential public health services average a dime a day per person.
Gordon
R L
RL
Virginia State Health Department, Richmond 23219, USA.
Gerzoff
R B
RB
Richards
T B
TB
D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D011156:Population Density; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000191:economics*; D013221:State Health Plans / Q000191:economics*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States